

>0 



°- y 0 ^ X ^ « G 

0 ^ ^ 



o 



* , ^ * 0 M 0 " « 



*j c s .A o j o _ 





,0 o< 



0? 



O y n . 



A it 



s0 



5* % 



,0° 



v 0o 



— <>• cL/y /J 



if* 

ii ^ 

il » . 



0^ S 



.0 d. 



V 

it :« 



8 \ ~\ 



^0 



THE 



SONG OF SOLOMON 



COMPAEED 



WITH OTHER PARTS OF SCRIPTURE. 



Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesiis 
Christ."—! John i. 3. 



LONDON: 
JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNERS STREET. 

MDCCCLII. 




BALLANTYNE. PRINTER, EDINBURGH. 



1NTB0DUCT0BT THOUGHTS OS THE 
SONG OT SOLOMON. 



" The general character of this Book in contrast to 
Ecclesiastes is very striking. Ecclesiastes, from 
beginning to end. tells of the vanity of the crea- 
tnre — Canticles, of the sufficiency of the Beloved. 
In Ecclesiastes, the world is searched through and 
through in all its treasures of wisdom, of pleasure, 
and of riches ; but an object to satisfy the heart is 
not found in them all. 

" All is vanity, yea. vanity of vanities ! 

" In Canticles, what a contrast! An object to 
satisfy the heart is found: that object is not the 
creature, but the Beloved. One verse in St John's 
Gospel gives the contrast perfectly (John iv. 14). 
Ecclesiastes is the first half of the verse — e "Whoso- 
ever drinketh of this water shall thirst again;' Can- 
ticles is the latter half of the verse — £ AVhosoever 
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall 
never thirst.'' 'His love' is better than wine, than 
riches, than treasures, than all things. 5? — Extract. 



/ 

iv PREFACE. 

Thus the Book is full of Jesus. But it is Jesus 
in a peculiar character. He is not seen here as 
" Saviour," nor as " King," nor as " High Priest," 
nor as " Judge," nor as " Prophet," nor as " the 
Captain of our Salvation," nor as " the Great Shep- 
herd of the sheep," nor as " the Mighty God," nor 
as "the King of kings," nor as his people's " Surety" 
— No ! it is in a dearer and closer relation than any 
of these — it is Jesus as our " Bridegroom " — Jesus 
in marriage union with his Bride, his Church. 

This is a great mystery, but it is one of most pecu- 
liar preciousness to " all them that love our Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity." It pervades every part of Holy 
Scripture. It was first revealed in Adam and Eve, 
in Eden (Gen. i. 27, and ii. 21-24). It was more 
fully brought out in the typical characters of the 
Old Testament j as, for example, in Boaz and Ruth ; 
it was distinctly taught in the betrothment of the 
Jewish nation ; and it is plainly declared in the 
spiritual language of the epistles — " I have espoused 
you to one husband, that I may present you as a 
chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Cor. xi. 2). 

The Song of Solomon is to be understood as the 
mutual interchange of the affections of the Bride- 
groom and the Bride. It is the experience of the 
soul towards Christ in this peculiar relationship. 



PREFACE. 



V 



We may be quite as safe, though we realise our 
interest in Christ only as our Saviour from the guilt 
and condemnation of sin ; or if we know him only 
one step further, as the Captain of our Salvation, 
making us more than conquerors in fighting the 
good fight of faith. But it is our privilege [and a 
great one) to know him in a world that passeth 
away, wherein we are but strangers and pilgrims, 
ever learning the bitterness of creature-disappointments, 
and the drying up of creature- streams of happiness — as 
the one object in whom our affections may supremely 
centre with no danger of excess, no fear of dis- 
appointment, no possibility of coolness or variable- 
ness in return • but rather, in whose love we shall 
meet with a response that shall make our love as 
nothing, by reason of the love that excelleth ! 

This is our privilege — a purchased privilege — ours • 
in virtue of our relationship in Jesus. 

The question is never once raised throughout the 
Book whether indeed it is so or not. Grief and sad- 
ness arise from other causes. For, as the one grand 
aim of the Bride throughout is the enjoyment of 
free, uninterrupted, and constant communion with the 
Beloved, so the grand source of sorrow and distress 
is when seasons of coldness, lukewarmness, and 
drowsiness ever and anon creep over the soul, coming 



vi 



PREFACE. 



betiveen it and Jesus, like clouds which hide the sun 
— not, indeed, affecting its bright shining, but effec- 
tually hindering the genial warmth of its cheering, 
enlightening, and life-giving iuys from reaching the 
soul. 

One of the most striking features of this Book is 
the development of the onward, ripening progress of 
Christian experience, as traced through the spring, 
summer, and autumnal seasons (chap, ii., iv., and 
vi.) " First the blade, then the ear ; after that the 
full corn in the ear." 

And one of its most prominent characteristics is, 
that the person of Christ is dwelt on, rather than 
his work and offices. He is loved, so to speak, for 
his own sake. It is " his own self" that is the much- 
loved object. 

May our affections more and more centre in 
Jesus ; and may he be the constant companion and 
friend of our otherwise desolate and unsatisfied 
hearts, " until the day break and the shadows flee 
away," and " the marriage of the Lamb" be come! 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
CHAPTER II. 
CHAPTER m. 
CHAPTER IV. 
CHAPTER V. 
CHAPTER VI. 
CHAPTER VII. 
CHAPTER VIII, 



PAGE 
1 

32 
59 
76 
104 
139 
161 
189 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON 

COMPARED WITH OTHER PARTS OE SCRIPTURE. 



" This is a great mystery ; but I speak concerning Christ and the 
Church." — Eph. v. 27. 



CHAPTER I. 

Ver. 1. " The Song of songs } which is Solomon sT 

" Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all 
wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in 
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with 
grace in your hearts unto the Lord" (Col. iii. 16; 
Eph. v. 19). " For it is a good thing ... to sing 
praises unto thy name, 0 most High " (Ps. xeii. 1-3; 
lxxxix. 1). 

It was thus that Moses sang, to celebrate the 
exodus and redemption of Israel from the land of 
Egypt (Ex. xv.) It was thus that Deborah sang, to 
celebrate the victory of Barak over Sisera (Judges v. ) 

L** A 



9 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



It was thus David sang, " in the day that God 
delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies " 
(2 Sam. xxii.) It was thus that Paul and Silas, even 
in the prison, " sang praises unto God " at midnight 
(Acts xvi.) Israel shall, in like manner, sing " in 
the land of Judah" the song that is prepared for 
them in the coming day of their restoration (Isa. 
xxvi.) 

And yet all these are but foretastes of the heavenly 
song which shall be sung by the redeemed out of 
" all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues " 
(Rev. y. 9, (fee.) — " a new song " — u the song of the 
Lamb ! " (Rev. xiv. 4, and xy. 2-4.) 

The heavenly song will be sung by the Church 
of Christ in glory ; " the Song of songs, which is 
Solomon's, 5 ' is the song they sing here upon earth. 

Pre-eminence is given to it above every other, 
when it is called " the Song of songs," which double 
rendering is very emphatic in the Hebrew. Thus 
Jehovah is called the 6i God of gods and Lord of 
lords " (Deut. x. 17) ; and Christ is called "King of 
kings and Lord of lords" (Rev. xix. 16). So also 
the "'most holy place " is called " the holy of holies," 
signifying that it was the treasury of the highest 
and most sacred mysteries of God. And St Paul 
has explained to us how great is the mystery con- 
tained in this " Song of songs," when he declares, 
" for this cause shall a man leave his father and 
mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they 
two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery ; 



CHAPTER I. 



3 



but I speak concerning Christ and the Church " (Eph. 
v. 29-32). 

The mystic union is involved in the attributing 
of the song to Solomon ; for it is uttered mutually 
by Christ and by his Church, but it is attributed to 
him only, for they are not twain, but one. And she 
is lost sight of in him. The same Spirit actuates 
both ; for the Head and the members form but one 
Christ. The song is, therefore, emphatically " Solo- 
mon's," or Christ's. 

The Bride. 

Yer. 2. " Let him lass me with the kisses of his mouth"' 

This abrupt commencement bespeaks the impas- 
sioned affections of the Bride. She is so wholly 
engrossed with thoughts of her Beloved, that she 
does not stay to explain of whom she speaks. Just 
as Mary at the sepulchre, looking for Jesus, ad- 
dressed herself to one whom she believed to be the 
gardener, exclaiming, " If thou have borne him hence, 
tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take 
him away " — as though every one must know v;hom 
she sought (John xx. 15) — as though there were 
but one object to be cared for — One for whom she 
would count all things else but loss (Phil. iii. 7, S) ; 
and one pearl of great price, to buy which she would 
sell all that she had (Matt. xiii. 44-46). For, 
" Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is 



4 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



none upon earth that I desire beside thee,' must ever 
be the language of the Bride of Christ, 

" Let him kiss me." A kiss is a token of very 
near and intimate friendship, or of relationship. It. 
therefore, bespeaks, in this instance, the intimacy 
and closeness of the relationship between Jesus and 
his Church. We have a striking representation of 
it in the case of David and Jonathan, in 1 Sam. xx. 
41 : " They kissed one another, and wept one with 
another, until David exceeded." 

But a kiss is also a token of reconciliation, which 
we have beautifully brought before us in the 
Prodigal Son returning to his father's house : — 
ci When he was yet a great way off, his father saw 
him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his 
neck, and Jdssed him,'" <fcc. (Luke xv. 20). And a 
similar instance of reconciliation occurs in the his- 
tory of Joseph, who, in making himself known to 
them, " hissed all his brethren, and wept upon them : 
and after that, his brethren talked with him " (Gen. 
xlv. 15). u God was in Christ, reconciling the world 
unto himself" (2 Cor. v. 18-21; Rom. v. 10, 11 : 
Col. i. 21 j Heb. ii. 17). 

u With the kisses of his mouth;" for " his mouth 
is most sweet" (Cant. v. 16) ; "Neither was guile 
found in his mouth ; " " All bare him witness, and 
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out 
of his mouth " (Luke iv. 22 ; 1 Pet. ii. 22 ; Matt, 
iv. 4). And, therefore, Job declares : " I have 



CHAPTER I. 



5 



esteemed the words of his mouth more than my 
necessary food 5 ' (Job xxiii. 12). 

Contrast "his mouth" with ours (James iii. 
2-10). 

" For thy love is letter than wine.''' 

" Thy love" — the love of Jesus — truly it is sweet. 
Very tender is the love between the Husband and 
his Bride ; therefore she exclaims, " Let him kiss me 
with the kisses of his mouth." Dearer is such love 
than the choicest earthly good — more refreshing, 
more reviving, more strengthening. It is " an ever- 
lasting love" (Jer. xxxi. 3). "Having loved his 
own which were in the world, he loved them unto 
the end " (John xiii. 1). How unlike a mere earthly 
passion, producing a sudden flash of excitement, and 
dying away again S "Thy love is better than wine " 
— "'Thy loving-kindness is better than life" (Ps. 
lxiii. 3). Oh! to comprehend more of "'the breadth, 
and length, and depth, and height, and to know 
the love of Christ which passeth knowledge ! " 
" Greater love hath no man." It was love " strong 
as death" (John xv. 13 ; Cant. viii. 6). It was the 
very same love as that wherewith the Father loved 
the Son ! — " as the Father hath loved me, so have 
I loved you ; ' (John xv. 9). Well, therefore, may 
we exclaim with David, "How excellent is thy 
loving-kindness, 0 God ! " for " thou shalt make 
them drink of the river of thy pleasures" (Ps. xxxvi. 
7-10), an exhanstless stream — " better than wine ! " 



6 



THE fcOXG OF SOLOMON. 



Ver. 3. " Because of the savour of thy good oint- 
ments, thy name is as ointmen t poured forth." 

"When Mary brake the box of ointment of spike- 
nard, very costly, we read that " the honse was filled 
with the odour of the ointment" (John xii. 3). It 
is thus when the "name" of Jehovah is revealed : 
"thy name is as ointment poured forth" 

For God's name is the expression of his nature, 
character, and attributes, as we may learn from the 
proclamation of it to Moses (Ex. xxxiv. 5—7). But 
it is essentially Jesus : " thou shalt call his name 
Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God with 
us" (Matt. i. 23) ; in him the ointment is "poured 
forth," the name of God is exhibited ; and whereso- 
ever Jesus comes, the place is filled with the sweet 
odour of "the name" of our God. Thus it is 
written, " The Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
among us, and we beheld his glory;" there was, as it 
were, the breaking of the box, that the ointment 
might be "poured forth." God revealed his name 
in the person of his dear Son (Isa. vii. 14 ; ix. 6). 

It is compared to ointment because it was 

1. Most precious and costly (Ex. xxx. 23-25 : Ps. 

cxxxiii. 2 ; Mark xiv. 3 ; John xii. 3 ; 1 Pet. 
ii. 7). " Unto you, therefore, which believe, he 
is precious." 

2. Of sweet odour (Eph. v. 2). " Christ also hath 

loved us, and hath given himself for us, an 
offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet- 
smelling savour" (John xii. 3). 



CHAPTER L 



7 



3. Compounded of a variety of parts (Ex. xxx. 

23-28). " It pleased the Father that in Mm 

should all fulness dwell 5 ' (Col. i. 19 j ii. 9). 
-4. It had healing properties (Acts hi. 16). " His 

name, through faith in his name, hath made 

this man strong." 
Lastly, Xothing was ever to be made like it (Ex. 

xxx. 31-33, 37, 38). " There is none other 

name under heaven given among men whereby 

we must be saved" (Acts iv. 12). 

" Therefore do the virgins love thee." 

It is as the Father is Icnown in the person of 
Christ that he is loved. " This is life eternal, to 
know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ. 
whom thou hast sent" (John xvii. 3). Because in 
Jesus there is such a full manifestation and exhibi- 
tion of the character and name of God, like ointment 
poured forth, " therefore do the virgins love thee." 
(Compare 1 John iv. 9, 19.) "We love him be- 
cause he first loved us." (See also Luke vii. 47.) 

" The virgins " are so called for their spiritual 
chastity. " That I may present you as a chaste 
virgin to Christ" (2 Cor. xi. 3). The same word is 
rendered " thy hidden ones," in Ps. Ixxxiii. 3. 

Ver. 4. Draw me, we will run after thee" 

The word ci draw " rather signifies precede, or go 
before me. Thus we should follow Jesus as our 
" forerunner," who has gone before, " leaving us an 



8 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



example, that we should follow his steps" (1 Pet. 
i. 21. SeeHeb. vi. 20). 

The prayer implies a sense of helplessness — " draw 
me i " it implies also a looking to God for the 
needed help—" Mine eyes are ever towards the 
Lord," &c. (Ps. xxv. 15). " Send out thy light and 
thy truth ; let them lead me, let them bring me," 
&c. (Ps. xliii. 3). It further implies a sense of rest- 
lessness at a distance from God, and an earnest desire 
for closer communion with him : " It is good for me 
to draw near unto God" (Ps. lxxiii. 28). 

" Draw me." And how truly the God of our 
mercy does "prevent" us! (Ps. lix. 10.) "I drew 
them with cords of a man, with bands of love ; " 
" With loving-kindness have I drawn thee" (Hos. 
xi. 4 ; Jer. xxxi. 3). So again, in Deut. i. 33, 
" Who went in the way before you,''' &e. It is his 
own promise, " I, if I be lifted up from the earth, 
will draw all men unto me" (John xii. 32). And 
yet the necessity for the prayer is evident, for that 
he hath also said, " No man can come unto me, 
except the Father which hath sent me draw him " 
(John vi. 44). But wherever the cry is sincere, it 
is a sure earnest of the Spirit in the heart already ; 
and we know that whatsoever we ask according to 
his will, or according to the intercession of the 
Spirit in us, he will give it us (1 John v. 13, 
14). And the soul appears to realise this, being 
quickened in the lively exercise of faith, even whilst 
in the very act of prayer. For, instead of inertness, 



CHAPTER I. 



9 



the following words suggest the idea of more than 
ordinary activity — " Draw me, we will run after 
thee." 

It expresses something of the energetic spirit of 
Peter, in John xxi. 7, who, as soon as he heard that 
it was the Lord, i( cast himself into the sea," as 
though he could not soon enough find himself at 
his Lord's feet. He was unable to restrain his 
ardent love whilst they drew the ship to land. 

Thus David also says, " I will run in the way of 
thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my 
heart " (Ps. cxix. 32) ; and, again, " I made haste, 
and delayed not," &c. (ver. 60). And St Paul says, 
" This one thing I do, forgetting the things which 
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things 
which are before, I press toward the mark," &c. 
(Phil. hi. 13, 14). 

We have likewise the word of exhortation — " so 
run that ye may obtain " (1 Cor. ix. 24, 25). " Let 
us run with patience the race that is set before us " 
(Heb. xii. 1, 2). u iSTot slothful in business, but 
fervent in spirit" (Kom. xii. 11). And there is a 
precious promise and word of encouragement in 
Isa. xl. 31, " They that wait upon the Lord shall 
renew their strength : they shall mount up with 
wings as eagles ; they shall run and not be weary, 
and they shall walk and not faint." 

Only we must see that we " run after " our Lord, 
and not hefore him ; that is, not marking out for 
ourselves a way of our own, but treading in His 



10 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



steps. "When he putteth forth his own sheep, he 
(joeth before them, and the sheep follow him " (John x. 
4, 5, 27). 

" The King hath brought me into his chambers." 

The prayer is answered, and answered in God's 
own way, far exceeding even our own desires, We 
are permitted not only to follow after, but to enter in 
with our Beloved to his royal chambers ! Here is 
the soul " entering into the holiest by the blood of 
Jesus," having access within the vail (Heb. x. 19, 
20). For, by virtue of our marriage anion with 
Jesus, we are "kings and priests." " He hath made 
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" 
(Eph. ii. 6), being " of the household of God " 
(ii. 19); and it is our amazing privilege to dwell 
" in the secret place of the Most High " (Ps. xci. 1 ; 
xxvii. 4, 5 ; lxv. 4). " Blessed is the man whom 
thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, 
that he may dwell in thy courts," &c. Surely it is 
here that Jesus manifests himself unto us as he 
doth not unto the world (John xiv. 18, 23). And 
it is here we taste the sweet anticipations of being 
hereafter admitted into the " many mansions " of 
the le Father's house," in glory (John xiv. 3). We 
are now, as it were, abiding for a season in the ante- 
chamber through faith; but Jesus is preparing a 
place for us, when the earthly house (or hut) of this 
tabernacle is dissolved, where we shall sit down with 
him in his throne, and reign for ever and ever in 



CHAPTER I. 



11 



the royal presence chamber of our King ! " They 
shall see his face, .... and they shall reign for 
ever and ever" (Rev. iii. 21; 2 Cor. v. 1 ; Rev. 
xxii. 4, o). " They shall enter into the King's 
palace!" (Ps. xlv. 16.) 

Jesus is seen as the Priest (in ver. 3), seated on 
his throne as " the King " (in ver. 4), for he is our 
Melchizedec, our royal High Priest, in the temple 
made without hands. 

" We will be glad and rejoice in thee." 

There is here the inward feeling and the outward 
expression of joy. The gladuess is the same as in 
Ps. civ. 34, " My meditation of him shall be sweet. 
I will be glad in the Lord " — a joy in the inmost 
recesses of the soul — " My heart is glad " (Ps. xvi. 
9). So the rejoicing is the outward manifestation of 
it, "and my glory rejoiceth " (Ps. xvi. 9). These 
two commonly go together ; — " My soul shall make 
her boast iu the Lord ; " there is the inward feel- 
ing : " the humble shall hear thereof and be glad ; " 
there is the outward manifestation of it (Ps. xxxiv. 
2; xxxiii. 1). But it is all "in, thee" — "in the 
Lord." " 1 will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul 
shall be joyful in my God" (Isa. lxi. 10; Hab. iii. 
17, 18 ; 1 Sam. ii. 1 ; Phil. iv. 1, 4). If we rejoice 
at any time in frames and feelings, in earthly pro- 
sperity, or in spiritual welfare (see Ps. xxx. 6, 7), it 
cannot be abiding joy. " Rejoice in the Lord 
alway," for in him there is "alway" cause of rejoic- 



12 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



ing, but in none else. We should seek to share 
Jesus' joy : " that they might have my joy fulfilled 
in themselves" (John xvii. 13). 

(< We will remember thy love more than ivineP 

" There be many that say, Who will shew us any 
good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy counten- 
ance upon us. For thou hast put gladness in my 
heart, more than in the time that their corn and 
their wine increased" (Ps. iv. 6. 7). 

The believer feels that the Lord's love is " more 
to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold, 
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." 
Thus he can rejoice in the love of his God, " though 
the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be 
in the vine," &c. (Hab. iii. 17, 18). He has a 
fountain of living waters to draw from, therefore he 
needs not to go to the well for water j earthly 
treasures can no longer charm him. " If a man 
would give all the substance of his house for love, 
it would utterly be contemned " (Cant. viii. 7). 
" We will remember thy love more than wine." 

But the term " remember" implies past experience 
looked back upon ; it is contemplation, and not seek- 
ing for some new thing : " I remember the days of 
old," ifcc. (Ps. cxliii. 5 ; lxiii. 6 ; Ixxvii. 10, 11). 

The Lord's Supper is a special act of remembrance. 
"Do this in remembrance of me." u To the end that 
we should alway remember the exceeding great love 
of our Master and only Saviour, Jesus Christ, thus 



CHAPTER I. 



13 



dying for us .... he hath instituted and ordained 
holy mysteries as pledges of his love, and for a con- 
tinual remembrance of his death, to our great and 
endless comfort." It is a most precious ordinance 
for the strengthening and refreshing of the soul, as 
the body is refreshed by the bread and wine. 

(l The upright love thee" 

" Let love be without dissimulation" (Eom. xii. 
9). There must be integrity and ichole-heartedness, 
where there is true love to the Lord Jesus. Not 
"a heart and a heart," for we cannot love God and 
Mammon. Is it not so even among men, that if 
any man will marry, our Church inquires, "Wilt 
thou love her, comfort her, <fec. ; and, forsaking all 
other, keep thee only unto her 1 " &c. And how 
much more, then, when we are espoused to the Lord 
Jesus Christ ! Very great is the blessedness of in- 
tegrity and uprightness. "Xo good thing will he 
withhold from them that walk uprightly (Ps. 
lxxxiv. 11). "The integrity of the upright shall 
guide them " (Prov. xi. 3), Oh, for grace to be able 
at all times to say with an upright heart, u Lord, 
thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love 
thee" ! (John xxi. 17.) 

Ver. 5. " I am black, but comely, 0 ye daughters of 
Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of 
Solomon.''' 

The contemplation of uprightness seems to have 



14 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



turned the thoughts of the Bride aside for a moment, 
to reply to some who appear to have charged or 
suspected her of a different character. These " daugh- 
ters of Jerusalem" are frequently mentioned through- 
out the book, and may, most probably, represent 
professors ; those who compose a part of the visible, 
but not the true, Church of Christ on earth. They 
are "daughters of Jerusalem," but they are not 
"the Bride — the Lamb's Wife." They partake of 
the outward privileges, but they know not the vital 
union of the Bride with her Beloved ; and, therefore, 
they fail to understand much of her experience. 

She therefore unfolds to them here one of the 
fundamental truths of Christianity — the utter black- 
ness of the child of God in himself together with his 
completeness and beauty in Christ. " I am black, 
but comely." "I am black" — here is the full ac- 
knowledgment of her state by nature. "Behold, 
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother 
conceive me" (Ps. li. 5 ; Bom. iii. 10. &c. ; Jer. xvii. 
9 ; Gen. viii. 21 ; Mark vii. 21, 23, &c. &c.) 

And even after conversion, it is equally true of 
us, as it was of St Paul, " For I know that in me 
(that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing " (Bom. 
vii. 18 ; see also Isa. vi. 5). 

And it appears to be in this latter sense that the 
expression is intended here ; for the original word 
is literally " dark " as the dawn of day, justly repre- 
senting the state of the Church of Christ on earth, 
emerging, as it were, from the ruins of the tomb, 



CHAPTER I. 



15 



from a death in trespasses and sins, but awaiting 
the light of day in the morning of the Resurrection. 

None are so ready to say of themselves, " I am 
black/' as the most advanced Christians. St Paul 
had been one for thirty years when he declared him- 
self the chief of sinners (1 Tim. i. 15) ; and the 
better we know ourselves, the more deeply we feel, 
"I am black" 

" Black — as the tents of Kedar." There is great 
force in this illustration. " The tents of the Arabs 
are of a dark or nearly black colour, being made of 
the shaggy hair of their black goats." And what 
could be a fitter representation of the Church of 
Christ in the eyes of the world 2 " Hath not God 
chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs 
of the kingdom V (James ii. 5.) 

" Poor and afflicted, Lord, are tliine, 
Among the great they seldom shine." 

They have nothing to render them outwardly attrac- 
tive — to the eye of sense they are " as the tents of 
Kedar." They have no earthly city to dwell in — 
they are literally " strangers and pilgrims " on the 
earth, sojourning in " tents" and content with the 
traveller's fare, for they seek a city. 

But if destitute of exterior beauty, like the Arab 
tents, they are richly adorned within, " as the cur- 
tains of Solomon " (1 Pet. iii. 4). Xone saw the 
exquisite loveliness of those curtains, save those who 
entered within the tabernacle or temple. Even Jesus 
was "without form or comeliness" to those who 



16 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



looked only on his outward lowly garb of suffering 
humanity. But his Bride discovered such charms 
in her Beloved, that, at a loss for words to express it, 
she exclaimed, " Yea, he is altogether lovely !" 

And it is in his comeliness she is comely. " I am 
black, but comely" — "Perfect through my comeli- 
ness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God " 
(Ezek. xyi. 14). 

Precious truth ! "Without one of the filthy rags 
of their own righteousness, they are " covered with 
the robe of his righteousness," and " clothed with 
the garments of salvation" (Isa. lxi. 10) — a Accepted 
in the beloved" (Eph. i. 7) — "Perfect in Christ 
Jesus" (Col. i. 28) — Yea, "complete in him' (Col. 
ii. 10). " I am black but comely." 

" Since, therefore. I can hardly bear 

What in myself I see, 
How vile, how black, must I appear, 

Most Holy God, to thee ! 
But, oh ! my Saviour stands between, 

In garments dyed in blood : 
'Tis He instead of me is seen, 

When I approach to God." — Newton. 

Yer. 6. " Look not upon me, because I am black, 
because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother s 
children icere angry with me; they made me 
keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard 
have I not kept." 

The offence of the Cross has not ceased. " All 
that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer per- 
secution" (2 Tim. hi. 12). — " In the world ye shall 



CHAPTER I. 



17 



have tribulation" (John xvi. 33 ; see also John 
xvii. 14 j John xv. 19 ; 1 John hi. 13). 

Nay more, "A man's foes shall be they of his 
own household" (Matt. x. 36 j Mic. vii. 6) — "My 
mother's children were angry with me." And there 
is no persecution so hard as this, arising not from 
avowed enemies, but from professed friends or rela- 
tives. 

A large part of Job's trial arose from it j he was 
misunderstood and bitterly reproached by his own 
friends. And it has been truly remarked that 
" Moses knew the trial of the camp, even beyond 
that of the wilderness." To be looked down upon by 
fellow-Christians (or those professing to be such), is 
indeed an arrow that pierces the heart very keenly. 

But it is a great sin to despise one of the Lord's 
little ones (Matt, xviii. 10). The judgments on 
Edom were very sore and terrible, for having thus 
lightly esteemed his brother Jacob. " Thou shouldest 
not have looked upon the day of thy brother, in the 
day that he became a stranger ; yea, thou shouldest 
not have looked on their affliction in the day of 
their calamity," &c. (Obad. 12, 13, &c.) 

Yet the Lord oft-times turns this day of affliction 
into a day of blessing to his people, inasmuch as it 
leads them to self-conviction of grievous shortcom- 
ing, and the many times in which they have " given 
occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,'' 
" Mine own vineyard have I not kept." 



B 



IS 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



Yer. 7. " Tell me, 0 thou ivhom my soul loveth, 
where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to 
rest at noon; for why should I be as one that 
turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions f 
The Bride soon returns to address herself to her 
Beloved; and we have in these words a full turning 
of the heart to Jesus, in whom the soul alone finds 
rest, when all others are against her. The cry 
seems to arise out of solitude of experience ; for none 
else could understand or sympathise with her. By 
the flocks of his companions she was as one veiled 
(see marg.) They could not read the secrets of her 
heart, but he could ; and in full confidence of heart 
she appeals to him — " Tell me, 0 thou whom my 
soul loveth." 

Here was the strongest evidence of her upright- 
ness — " The upright love thee ; " and in full con- 
sciousness of the love she bore to him, she turns 
directly to him as the Searcher of hearts, who knew 
what others could not know of the longings of her 
inmost soul. 

This is precious experience, and it is well to be 
brought to it by any means. " The sun," saith she, 
u hath looked upon me — I am faint and languishing 
— 0 tell me where I may find rest in those green 
pastures, and beside those still waters, where thou 
makest thy flock to rest at noon! for why should I be 
as one that turneth aside 1 " &c. Oh ! how often 
believers are heard to speak thus ! Why cannot I 
enjoy the rich provisions of covenant love as others 



CHAPTER I. 



19 



do % Why am I cut off from a participation in the 
means of grace, or from enjoyment in them ? "Why 
go I mourning all my days because of the oppression 
of the enemy ?" (Ps. xlii. 9.) "0 tell me where thou 
feedest thy nock, and where thou causest them to 
lie down," &c. (Ezek. xxxiv.) " Shew me thy ways, 
0 Lord, teach me thy paths" (Ps. xxv. 4, 5). 

This should ever be the language of the icandering 
sheep. " Seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy 
commandments" (Ps. cxix. 176). And that it was 
but a wandering sheep, a sheep that had only 
strayed from the fold, is evident ; for none but a 
true member of Christ's flock could have urged that 
plea, "0 thou whom my soul loveth." 

Sad it is, but too true, that the Lord's people are 
prone to wander. And yet (blessed be God !) they 
find no rest away from him. Having once known 
the Lord as their " Good Shepherd," they will never 
find satisfaction in any other pasture (Ps. xxiii. 1, 
&c; John x. 5 ; see also 1 John iv. 1-4). 

The Lord's Answer, 

Yer. 8. f If thou know not, 0 thou fairest among 
women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the 
flock, and feed thy kids by the shepherds tents" 

There is no upbraiding with our God. If at any 
time we lack wisdom, we may ask it of him, for he 
giveth to all men liberally (James i. o). 

"If thou know not" — the words almost imply 



20 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



that there was the knowledge, though not in exer- 
cise. As in John xiv. 8, 9, " Have I been so long 
time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, 
Philip?" How is it that ye know not? "Thus 
saith the Lord, Stand ye in the way, and see, and ask 
for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk 
therein ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls" 
(Jer. vi. 16). "Jam the way," saith Jesus. Follow 
the leading of the Good Shepherd, and tread in the 
footsteps of his flock, for " they follow him." There- 
fore, " be followers of them" &c. (Heb. vi. 12; 1 Cor, 
xi. 1 ; 1 Thess. i. 6 ; Heb. xiii. 7 ; Phil. iii. 16, 17). 
" Forsake not the assembling of yourselves to- 
gether;" for, " Where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, there am I in the midst of 
them" (Heb. x. 25 ; Matt, xxviii. 19, 20). 

Be diligent in the use of means ; " feed thy 
kids," <fec. It seems as if the Lord would say, " In- 
dulge not in thy feelings of lonely desolateness ; 
withdraw not thyself from thy fellow-Christians — ■ 
the Shepherd is with his flock ; and, if thou wouldest 
find him, abide with them." 

Ver. 9. " I have compared thee, 0 my love, to a com- 
pany of horses in Pharaoh! s chariot." 

So far from casting reproach upon his Bride, the 
Lord encourages her with words of tenderness and 
delight, in a figure most fitly representing her con- 
dition while militant here upon earth — "a com- 
pany of horses in Pharaoh's chariot." And in this 



CHAPTER I. 



21 



and the two following verses, he strikingly contrasts 
his estimation of her strength, activity, and swiftness, 
and her exceeding beauty, with her own sense of 
feebleness and acknowledgment of blackness ex- 
pressed in verses 4-6. 

Believers may be compared to Pharaoh's horses 
in that they were very choice and costly (see 1 
Kings x. 29). For we are " a chosen generation," 
and "purchased" with the inestimable price of "the 
precious blood of Christ." 

There is remarkable beauty in this figure, when 
taken in connexion with Solomon's history; it is 
stated, in proof of his amazing wealth, that " Solo- 
mon had horses brought out of Egypt — and they 
fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt, a 
chariot for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse 
for an hundred and fifty" (2 Chron. i. 16, 17). It 
is a very beautiful figurative representation of the 
true Solomon redeeming his people, at an infinitely 
higher cost, " out of the land of Egypt, out of the 
house of bondage." And it gives a peculiar pro- 
priety to the selection of this as the first figure 
chosen by the Lord in which to address his Bride, 
calling vividly to remembrance whence she was 
brought ; for he would ever have us humbled under 
the recollection of " the rock whence we are hewn, 
and the hole of the pit whence we are digged" (Isa. 
El). 

Ver. 10, 11. a Thy cheeks are comely with rows of 



22 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



jewels, thy neck icith chains of gold. We will 
make thee borders of gold, with studs of silver r 

The Lord takes pleasure iu beautifying the meek, 
and in adorning his Bride (Ps. cxlix. 4). The 
word " We n is the same as that used in Gen. i. 26, 
which involves the three Persons of the Godhead. 
As they created, so they new create and " beautify;' 
Thus Isaiah says of the Lord — " He hath covered 
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom 
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride 
adorneth herself with jewels " (Isa. Ixi. 10). 

And the Lord himself declares of Jerusalem, that 
when he entered into covenant with her and she be- 
came his, he decked her also with ornaments, and 
put bracelets on her hands, and a chain on her neck, 
&c. (Ezek. xvi. 11, 12.) And then he adds, " Thus 
wast thou decked with silver and gold." — " Borders 
of gold, with studs of silver." 

Chains of gold about the neck were always tokens 
of promotion ; as, when Pharaoh promoted J oseph, 
" He arrayed him in fine linen, and put a gold chain 
about his neck ; ' (Gen. xli. 41, 42); and when 
Daniel was promoted by Belshazzar to be the third 
ruler in his kingdom, he also clothed him with 
lt scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck " 
(Dan. v. 29). But our adorning is not to be of 
"gold, or pearls, or costly array — but in good works 95 
(1 Tim. ii. 9, 10). 



CHAPTER I. 



23 



The Bride. 

Ver. 12. " While the King sitteth at his table, ran 
spikenard sencleth forth the smell thereof." 

Here is the royal Bride promoted to the highest 
dignity, " seated beside the King/' at his royal feast, 
yet " clothed with humility." 

"The King sitteth at his table." Once the King 
of glory, veiled in human flesh, headed the table at 
which sat his twelve apostles, when he instituted 
that precious ordinance in which we commemorate 
his dying love ; nor is he less present with us now 
in the Gospel Feast — " Where two or three are 
gathered together in my name, there am I in the 
midst." 

He " sitteth at his table." How sweet to remem- 
ber that the feast is Ms! The table is '-'his !" — the 
provisions are his ! — and the guests are his ! Boast- 
ing, therefore, is excluded, for it is all of grace, and 
the Bride may humbly own the fragrance of her 
spikenard — " My spikenard sendeth forth the smell 
thereof." It is in seasons of communion with the 
Lord that the graces of the Spirit are called forth 
in most lively exercise — " While the King sitteth at 
his table." When the presence of Christ is realised, 
then do love, gratitude, humility, faith, gentleness, 
meekness, &c. &c 3 now forth in sweetest fragrance 
towards their Author. The spirit of the Bride (inti- 
mated by the spikenard sending forth its smell) is 



24 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



beautifully expressed in our Communion Service : 
" We do not presume to come to this thy table, 0 
Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy 
manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so 
much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table, 
but," &c. For the " spikenard " is a lowly grass, 
scarcely rising above the surface of the ground. A 
lovely emblem of humility. And being admitted 
into the royal presence, and even sitting down to the 
same royal feast with Jesus the King of kings, does 
not foster pride, but deepens humility. What, in- 
deed, could so effectually cherish a lowly spirit at 
this feast, as the remembrance of the Saviour's words, 
that at his coming again, " he shall gird himself, 
and make them (his servants) to come and sit down 
to meat, and shall come forth and serve them " f (Luke 
xii. 37.) 

Is it not strange that any can leave this same 
Jesus knocking without at the door of their hearts, 
when he has said that if any man will open the door, 
he will come in to him, and sup with him f (Rev. iii. 
20.) Alas ! that any should reject that wedding- 
garment in which alone they can appear at " his 
table"! (Mat. xxii. 10, 12.) 

It is too precious a thought to the children of God 
to be forgotten here, that the Captain of their salva- 
tion does not leave them without provisions in their 
enemies' land, whilst they are engaged in fighting 
the good fight of faith ; for it is written, " Thou 
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine 



CHAPTER I. 



25 



enemies" (Ps. xxiii. -5). Even there their King is 
in the midst of them, and "sitteth at his table." 

Ver. 13. u A bundle of myrrh is ray well-beloved unto 
me : he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts" 

So precious are the seasons of communion with 
her " well-beloved/' that his Bride resolves upon 
unbroken intimacy of the closest kind. 

" A bundle of myrrh " is he unto me ! " Myrrh " 
was one of the choice spices of the East. " A bundle" 
of it would therefore bespeak great treasures, and 
rich abundance of them. Yet the figure but faintly 
pourtrays the fulness that is treasured up for us in 
Christ Jesus, u For in him dwelleth all the fulness 
of the Godhead bodily " (Col. ii. 9). "The only be- 
gotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 
i 14.) " All fulness dwells in him." 

And he is all this to each of his people : « A 
bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me. v 
"When the sord is so enamoured with the loveliness 
of Jesus as to call him in all sincerity "my ivell- 
belovedf* we need not wonder at the strength of her 
appropriating faith. She felt how much she loved 
him. How could she question whether he was her 
beloved ] 

" My ivell-heloYed ! " "Unto you which believe 
he is precious" (1 Pet. ii. 7). He has become the 
one supreme object of your affections ; you can say, 
" There is none upon earth I desire beside thee" Xo 
creature-idol shall share his place in your heart. The 



26 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



Bride of Jesus ought indeed to seek after no other 
lovers ; none should have any share in her affections. 
At all times she ought to be able to say, " He shall 
lie all night betwixt my breasts." But, alas ! how 
often believers have to mourn over a "divided heart " ! 
and even when bereft of one idol, how they turn to 
another, and yet another ! As in Ezek. xvi. 15, 30, 
that chapter which gives us such a picture of the 
return we make for God's love to us ; or, as it is 
written in Jer. iii. 1, "thou hast played the harlot 
with many lovers ; " our hearts running after one 
and another whom we love, alas ! better than Jesus. 

And yet, so unalterable, so unchanging are His 
affections towards us, that he says, " Yet return 
again to me, saith the Lord ! " " Let her, therefore, 
put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her 
adulteries from between her breasts," &c, and I my- 
self will constrain her to return to me. For 
" behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and 
make a way that she shall not find her paths. And 
she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not 
overtake them," &c. ; " then shall she say, I will go 
and return to my first husband. And it shall be, in 
that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me 
Ishi (that is, 'nry husband'), and I will betroth 
thee unto me for ever ! " (see Hos. ii. 2, &c.) What 
amazing love ! what marvellous forbearance ! what 
comfort to the wretched adulteress, who, after the 
manner of men, imagines that Jesus can never love 
such an one again ! But he will never cast thee 



CHAPTER I. 



27 



off, though thou hast "wronged him thus. He has 
entered into covenant with thee, and though thou 
has broken " thy covenant/' he says, " nevertheless, 
I will remember my covenant with thee in the day 
of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an 
everlasting covenant" (Ezek. xvi. 60, 62); and he 
undertakes for thee — " I will put my fear into their 
hearts, that they shall not depart from me" (Jer. 
xxxii. 40). Therefore, in the covenant the Bride may 
truly say, " He shall lie all night betwixt my 
breasts." 

The whole period of the existence of the Church 
of Christ on earth may be called " the night," for 
the Resurrection will alone reveal the full light of 
day. All this time, therefore, the Church would 
seek to abide in close union and communion with 
her beloved, Christ dwelling in her heart by faith 
(Eph. iii. 16). 

Ver. 14. " My beloved is unto me as a cluster of 
camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi" 

" Camphire," the most highly esteemed, the 
sweetest and loveliest, and most fragrant of plants 
in Eastern countries, is the one chosen by the 
Bride, to express her estimation of her beloved. As 
" a cluster," too, from the vineyards of En-gedi, 
where it grew in richest profusion. How it reminds 
us of what St Paul says, " My God shall supply 
all your need, according to his riches in glory by 
Christ Jesus" ! (Phil. iv. 19.) We do not half enjoy 



28 



THE SONG OP SOLOMON. 



the sweet fragrance of Jesus as we might. He is 
not only " the Lamb slain/' to save us from sin, but 
" a cluster of camphire," to be unto us as the most 
refreshing perfume, the most delicious fragrance. 
0 that believers did but more enjoy Jesus with joy 
unspeakable ! not using him only as a bitter herb 
for medicine, but as a delicious plant for actual 
enjoyment. 

And if a cluster from the vineyard prove so ex- 
quisitely sweet, what will it be to dwell in the vine- 
yard for eternity ! We may now, by faith, taste the 
sweet foretastes of heaven's joy, just as the Israelites 
did " the cluster of grapes" from the promised land ; 
but the land itself is ours, and soon we shall enjoy 
the fragrance of Jesus, not " as a cluster " from the 
vineyard, but as the " vineyard " himself ! 

The Lord's Answer. 

Ver. 15. "Behold, thou art fair, my love ; behold, 
thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes." 

So completely has the Lord covered our vileness 
and adorned our nakedness, that he beholds us as 
" fair." He has made us such that he can behold us 
with delight ! He is not taken up, as we are, with 
our present state and condition ; past, present, and 
future, are one with him. And the little moment 
of our existence here, is a mere speck to his eternity. 
Therefore he looks not upon us "because we are 
black," he does not despise us for our present defor- 



CHAPTER I. 



29 



mities ; but. seeing our brief span of sinful mortality 
swallowed up in the ocean of a fathomless eternity, 
he regards us in the everlasting covenant, as " chosen 
in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world, 
to be holy, and without blame before him in love " 
(Eph. i. 4, 5) ; and in the fulness of time to be pre- 
sented " faultless before the presence of his glory 
with exceeding joy ; " cc without spot or wrinkle, or 
any such thing " (Jude 24: Eph. v. 27). "So 
shall the King greatly desire thy beauty " (Ps. xlv. 
11). Whatsoever others might think of his Bride, 
the Lord looks upon her with holy complacency. 
He can discern her comeliness (ver. 5), and the 
assurance to the believer is most precious — " Behold, 
thou art fair, my love." At this moment, Jesus is 
saying so of his Church, of each Christian — " thou 
art fair S " 

The Bride. 

Ver. 16. "Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea 
pleasant; cdso our bed is green!'' 

There is something peculiarly sweet in this reply 
of the Bride ; there is no Taunting of herself upon 
the commendation of the Lord, but contrariwise, she 
immediately turns to his beauty. " Behold, thou art 
fair, my beloved." 

Neither is there anything of false humility, or 
denial of her beauty, but only the grateful return of 
adoring admiration of him. For, after all, her 



30 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



beauty was Ids — "Let the beauty of the Lord our 
God be upon us" (Ps. xc. 17). " The beauty of the 
Lord our God ! " 

She delighted herself iu him — " Thou art fair, 
yea, pleasant " Since he has been made unto her 
" wisdom" (1 Cor. i. 30), she has learned by ex- 
perience that his u ways are ways of pleasantness ;" 
and that u at his right hand there are pleasures for 
evermore" (Prov. iii. 13—17 ; Ps. xvi. 11). 

And she owns their mutual enjoyment; u Also, 
our bed is green." " He maketh me to lie down in 
green pastures/' saith David ; or, as it is in the 
original, " in pastures of budding grass" (Ps. xxiii. 
2). Such being the exquisite freshness of delight 
and repose enjoyed by the flock of the Good Shep- 
herd in their beloved. 

Ver. 17. u The beams of our house are cedar, and 

our rafters of fir" 

It is scarcely possible to read these words with- 
out calling to remembrance the house built by Solo- 
mon for the worship and dwelling-place of the Most 
High, for which we read that Hiram sent him 
u timber of cedar, and timber of fir" (1 Kings vi. 
15-18; and v. 6-10). 

Both are so costly and so desirable, that probably 
that may be the main idea suggested. u We know 
that if our earthly house (literally, 'hut') of this 
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, 
an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" 
(2 Cor. v. 1). 



CHAPTER I. 



31 



The Temple of Solomon was but the type of the 
heavenly temple, which is composed of " lively 
stones " built up upon Jesus, the " living stone," 
* the chief corner stone, the sure foundation ; " 
stones so completely taken into himself, that in Rev. 
xxi. 22, it is written, " The Lord God Almighty and 
the Lamb are the temple of it" 

" Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual 
house " (1 Pet. ii. 4-7 • see also Eph. ii. 20, 22 ; 
1 Cor. iii. 9 ; Ps. xcii. 13). " Christ, as a Son over 
his own house, whose house are ice " (Heb. iii. 6). 
" The beams of our house " — so perfect is their 
identification — " ye in me, and I in you " (John xiv. 
20, and xvii. 21). "In my Father's house are 
many mansions." Jesus and his Church abide to- 
gether in the Father's house, for we are no more 
strangers and foreigners, but " of the household of 
God " (John xiv. 3 ; Eph. ii. 19). " I will dwell in 
the house of the Lord for ever " (Ps. xxiii. 6 ; lxxxiv. ; 
xxvii. 4 ; lxv. 4). 

There is a striking contrast in this enduring 
building to the "tents" spoken of in ver. 5; the 
perishing abode of the Church on earth, to the " in- 
heritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth 
not away, reserved in heaven " (1 Pet. i, 4). " Him 
that over cometh will I make a pillar in the temple 
of my God, and he shall go no more out " (Rev. iii. 
12). 



CHAPTER II. 



Ver. 1. " I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of 
the valleys" 

All the best commentators ascribe these words to 
the Bride, and not to Christ ; since the original ren- 
dering is, " I am a rose of the mere field, and a lily 
of the mere plain," strongly indicating meanness of 
extraction. And then the reply of Christ immedi- 
ately follows — " As the lily among thorns, so is my 
love among the daughters." 

The language is most truly applicable to the 
Bride, but it is no less truly so of Jesus. He was 
fragrant as the rose, and fair as the lily. Yet it is 
written of him, " He shall grow up before him as a 
tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground " (Isa. 
liii. 2). Indeed, both flowers are peculiarly emblem- 
atical of him. " The rose delights in shadowy places, 
and thence has its name in the original whilst the 
lily thrives in " the valleys*" 

So the Lord laid aside the glory of his Divine 
majesty for a season, and, " though he was rich, yet 
for our sakes became poor," and took on him the 



CHAPTER TI. 



33 



form of a servant" (2 Cor. viii. 9; Phil. ii. 8). 
For he was " meek and lowly in heart/' and had not 
where to lay his head ! " A root out of a dry 
ground " — " A rose of the mere field, a lily of the 
.mere plain." And all this was, that he might set us 
an example that we should walk in his steps " with 
all lowliness and meekness for " not many mighty, 
not many noble are called," but God hath " chosen 
the poor of this ic oriel, rich in faith, and heirs of the 
kingdom " (Eph. iv. 2 ; 1 Cor. i. 26 ; James ii. 5). 

Yet another thought is suggested by the colour of 
these two flowers : — 

" Jesus, the saints' perpetual theme — 
What fragrant odours fill the name 

Of lovely Sharon's rose ! 
As ointment poured forth, it spreads 
A sweet perfume, an unction sheds, 

Whence joy celestial flows. 

" Meek as the lily, too — and white, 
The lowly, spotless Nazarite, 

The Lamb for sinners slain ! 
With blood bedew' d, his own rich blood, 
For us he pour'd the crimson flood ; — 

He died, yet lives again ! " 

Ver. 2. " As the lily among thorns, so is my love 
among the daughters" 

What a lovely picture of the Church in the world ! 
" A lily among thorns " — " Sheep in the midst of 
wolves "— " Lights in the world" (Matt. x. 16 ; 
Phil. ii. 15). " We know that we are of God, and 
the whole world lieth in the wicked one" (1 John 
v. 19, Gr.) " So is my love among the daughters," 
c 



34 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



It is true of each individual — " the lily : " each 
one is, as it were, singled out by Christ from pro- 
fessors around ; and, oh ! precious truth, he sees the 
••'thorns"' which surround us, he knows the opposi- 
tion we meet with. 

And he places "the lily" in striking contrast to 
the " thorns." In Hos. xiv. 5, the lily is spoken of 
in reference to fruit fulness — " He shall grow as the 
lily/' &c. ; teaching us how the fruit-bearing charac- 
ter of the children of God should distinguish them 
from the waste, barren, fruitless u thorn." This 
distinctive character, this manifested difference, is 
far too little evidenced by Christians, as separating 
them from the world around. 

But there is yet another thought arising from 
these words, namely, the electing love of God — ••' the 
lily among thorns." " I have chosen you out or the 
world" (John xv. 19). " I brought thee out of the 
land of Egypt " (Ps. IxxxL 10). ;; Many are called, 
but few chosen" (Matt. xxii. " So is my love 

among the daughters." 

The Bride's Reply. 

Ver, 3. " As the apple-tree among the trees of the 
wood, so is my beloved among the so?is" 

If Christ esteemed his Bride as more excellent 
than all the daughters, so she esteemed him above 
all the sons. She compares him to an apple or 
citron-tree, bringing forth delicious fruit (which 



CHAPTER II. 



35 



may remind us of " the tree of life that bare twelve 
manner of fruits "), so presenting him to view in the 
strongest contrast to the sons, whom she compares 
to a the trees/' literally, " the wild trees of the 
wood." u Who among the sons of the mighty can 
be likened to the Lord ? " (Ps. lxxxix. 6.) What son 
is comparable to " the only begotten of the Father, 
full of grace and truth " ? 

" / sat down under his shadow with great delight, 
and his fruit was sweet to my taste." 

" His shadow." " The Lord is thy shade upon thy 
right hand " — " And there shall be a tabernacle for 
a shadow in the day-time from the heat " — " The 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land" — -'Hide 
me under the shadow of thy wings " (Ps. cxxi. 5 ; 
Isa. iv. 6 ; xxxii. 2, and xxy. -i j Ps. xvii. 8, &c.) 
The wide-spreading and luxuriant foliage of this 
apple-tree provides a refuge for the cool refresh- 
ment and quiet rest ~of the Lord's people ; shade 
from the heat, and shelter from the storm. For it 
is an abiding shadow. All other shadows are con- 
stantly fleeting, but with the Lord " there is no 
variableness, neither shadow of turning n (James i. 17). 
Therefore we may dwell beneath it. " He that 
dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall 
abide under the shadow of the Almighty " (Ps. 
xci. 1). 

Here we may sit down in the sweet repose and 
quiet rest of faith, even in the midst of conflict. 



So 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



He hath " made us sit together in heavenly places 
in Christ Jesus"' (Eph. ii. 6). And there are 
seasons when it is especially true, that " their 
strength is to sit still;" as Jesus once said to his 
disciples of old, " Come ye yourselves apart into a 
desert place, and rest a while " (Mark vi. 31). " I sat 
down under his shadow with great delight/' 

" Great delight." — Eeligion is no gloomy thing. 
" In the multitude of my thoughts within me/' ex- 
claimed David, " thy comforts delight my soul " 
(Ps. xciv. 19). "The meek shall delight themselves 
in the abundance of peace." Even now, in our 
partial enjoyment of heavenly things, we can, " be- 
lieving, rejoice with joy unspeakable " " Let your 
soul delight itself in fatness" — "Delight thyself in 
the Lord" (Isa. lv. 2 ; Ps. xxxvii. 4 ; 1 Pet. i. 8 : 
Ps. i. 2, &c.) 

It were impossible to describe the intense enjoy- 
ment and delight experienced by the Lord's people 
in seasons of such near and close communion, while 
sitting under his shadow. Xor is this passive 
enjoyment all that is noticed here; there is, further, 
the hand of faith plucking the fruit from the tree. 

And his fruit was sweet to my taste." 

There is actual feeding upon Christ. " If so be 
ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious " — " Unto 
you he is precious" (1 Pet. ii. 3, 7). "'And of his 
fulness have cdl we received" (John i. 16). " He that 
eateth me, even he shall live by me. For my flesh 



CHAPTER II. 



37 



is meat indeed, and ray blood is drink indeed" 
(John vi. 55, 57). 

How refreshing is this fruit to the soul that is 
hungering and thirsting for God, as the hart 
panteth after the water-brooks, or as the dry and 
thirsty land where no water is ! " His fruit was 
sweet to my taste." '-'How sweet are thy words 
unto my taste !" (Ps. cxix. 103 ; Ps. lxiii. 1, &c.) 

This is language, alas ! that the poor worldling 
cannot use j instead of seeing in Christ this all- 
desirable " apple-tree," he sees only " a root out of 
a dry ground," without form or comeliness. Instead 
of finding his fruit sweet to his taste, he is content 
to feed upon " the husks which the swine do eat " 
(Luke xy. 16). 

Ver. 4. " He brought me to the banqueting -house, 
and his banner over me was love" 

Here the figure is changed from the secret enjoy- 
ment of private, holy retirement, to the more public 
ordinances — in " the banqueting-house." "They 
shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy 
house, and thou shalt make them drink of the river 
of thy pleasures I " "A feast of fat things " (Ps. 
xxxvi. 8 ; Tsa. xxv. 6). 

Such is the provision made by the Lord of hosts 
for his poor and needy ones. " In my Father's 
house," may not each of us say, " there is bread 
enough and to spare"] Why, then, do we perish 
with hunger ? 



38 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it " (Ps. 
lxxxi. 10). " Whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely " (Rev. xxii. 17). " He brought 
me to the banqueting-home for Christ gives to 
his Bride, even as Solomon gave to the Queen of 
Sheba, " all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside 
that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty" 
(1 Kings x. 13 ; Eph. hi. 8, 16-21 ; Phil. iv. 19). 

It is a royal feast, like that spoken of in Esther i. 
3-7, when there was provided " royal wine in abund- 
ance, according to the state of the king." And as 
to " the drinking," the king gave commandment to 
his officers, " that they should do according to every 
man's pleasure " (ver. 8). " My God shall supply 
all your need according to his riches in glory!" 
But there is no carnal rejoicing in Jesus' feast — 
" The kingdom of God is not meat and drink ; but 
righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" 
(Rom. xiv. 17). 

Such a feast Christians peculiarly enjoy in the 
ordinances of the Lord's house, and, above all, in 
the Lord's Supper. For then they meet together in 
" the banqueting-house," " for the strengthening 
and refreshing of their souls," that they may " go 
from strength to strength," and may u wax stronger 
and stronger " (Ps. lxxxi v. 7 ; Job xvii. 9) ; this 
being the gracious purpose of their God concern- 
ing them, to lead them on to deeper and yet deeper 
experience of the rich provisions of his covenant 
love. 



CHAPTER II. 



Z9 



The mention of ; '' the banqueting-house " implies 
a season of great rejoicing : u My soul shall be 
satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth 
shall praise thee with joyful lips" (Ps. lxiii. 5). 
, " And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make 
unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines 
on the lees, of fat things fail of marrow, of wines on 
the lees well refined. And it shall be said in that 
day, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for 
him ; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation "' 
(Isa. xxv. 6, 9). Often, at such seasons, can the 
child of God exclaim with David, u My cup runneth 
over " (Ps. xxiii. 5). And if such " unspeakable 
joy" be found in the mere foretaste, what shall it 
be in heaven, when the transitory communion of 
a few saints on earth shall be exchanged for the 
whole company of the redeemed of the Lord in glory 
for ever and ever ! " Blessed are they which are 
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb " (Eev. 
xix. 9). 

How it will then resound from every tongue, " He 
brought me!" — He redeemed my soul from death — 
He led me by the right way — He brought me nigh 
to God! — " He brought me to the banqueting- 
house." Yes • even " me He gave himself "for 
me''' Oh ! how great are the wonders which grace 
hath wrought ! 

But the banner at that feast unfurls the secret — " His 
banner over me was love." It was common at 
feasts to have the leaders name inscribed upon the 



40 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



banner ; and the name of our great Captain is. " God 
is love/' Love gained the victory ; — the conflict, 
the triumph, and the glory, were my Beloved's. " He 
loved me. and gave himself for me : " and if we are 
conquerors, it is " through Him that loved us " (Gal. 
ii. 20; Eom. viii. 37; Eev. hi. 21). " Thanks be to 
God. which giveth us the victory through our Lord 
Jesus Christ 5 ' (1 Cor. xv. 57). 

How sweet to repose under such a banner ! u His 
banner over me was love/' whilst " underneath are 
the everlasting arms" (Dent, xxxiii. 27). 

And each believer may say it was " over me, 93 for 
I was rescued by that love from eternal wrath ; / 
am " a prey taken from the mighty.' 5 and a trophy 
of the victory won by my Beloved. 

" And we have known and believed the love that 
God hath to us/' 

Ter. -5. " Stay me with flagons, comfort me with 
apples ; for I am side of love." 

Such manifestations of the love of Jesus are well- 
nigh overpowering to the soul, especially of the 
young believer. " I am sick of love." The visions 
that Daniel saw so overcame him. that " straightway 
there was no strength in him ;" and John, when he 
saw the Lord Jesus. " fell at his feet as dead " (Dan. 
x. 8-19; Rev, i. 12-18; see also Isaiah, vi. -5; 
Gideon, Judges vi. 22 ; and Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 7). 

Yet the Bride, so far from asking their withdraw- 
ment. seeks only to be strengthened for yet further 



CHAPTER II. 



41 



manifestations — " to be strengthened with might by 
his Spirit in the inner man" (Eph. hi. 16). She 
would drink yet deeper from the cup of salvation, 
and feed yet again on " apples " from that apple-tree 
whose fruit was so sweet to her taste. It is like the 
earnest breathings of David : " 0 God, thou art my 
God : I have earnestly contemplated thee (for so the 
words may be rendered) • my soul thirsteth for thee, 
my flesh longeth after thee," &c. (Ps. lxiii. 1). " Like 
as the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth 
my soul after thee, 0 God." " Stay me with 
flagons, comfort me with apples ; for I am sick of 
love." " My soul longeth, yea, even fainteih, for the 
courts of the Lord " (Ps. lxxxiv. 2). This is a 
blessed hungering and thirsting after righteousness, 
and the promise (Matt. v. 6) shall not be delayed. 

" In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, 
and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul " 
(Ps. cxxxviii. 3) ; — words which were fully realised 
in the experience of the Bride, for immediately fol- 
lows the expression of the supporting presence of 
Jesus : — 

Ver. 6. "His left hand is uncle?" my head, and his 
right hand doth embrace me." 

" He giveth power to the faint, and to them that 
have no might he increaseth strength " — " The 
Lord upholdeth him with his hand " — " Underneath 
are the everlasting arms" (Isa. xl. 29 ; Ps. xxxvii. 
24 ; Deut. xxxiii. 27). Such is the security, and 



43 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



such the blessed, privileged position of the child of 
God. The Good Shepherd gathers the lambs (his 
feeble ones) in his bosom, restoring (Ps. xxiii. 3) and 
embracing them. " I will uphold thee with the right 
hand of my righteousness" (Isa. xli. 10) — the right 
hand of power being here most sweely connected 
with love — " and his right hand doth embrace me." 
"He shall dwell between his shoulders/' and so 
abide " in safety/' because he is " the beloved of the 
Lord" (Deut. xxxiii. 12). The omnipotence and 
almightiness of God become unutterably precious, 
when he is known as "the God of love." To be 
embraced within that all-powerful hand, from whence 
none can pluck us (John x. 28-30), is indeed conso- 
lation ; and it is peculiarly realised by the Church 
as the Bride of Christ. " His right hand doth em- 
brace me." 

The timid believer, too, who, like Peter, is afraid 
of the boisterous wind and the stormy sea, may take 
comfort from calling to remembrance, that it is this 
same powerful hand, constrained by the same love, 
that was then, and shall be still, immediately 
stretched forth to catch him that is "beginning 
to sink " (Matt. xiv. 30, 31). For he is ".able to 
keep us from falling," and we may safely say with 
David in reference to every occurrence, whether in 
life or death, " Into thine hand I commit my spirit " 
(Ps. xxxi. 5). 

Such experience denotes a holy tranquillity and 
quietude, precisely similar to that described in Isa. 



CHAPTER II. 



43 



xxvi. 3 — "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace 
(Heb. ' peace, peace') whose mind is stayed on thee, 
because he trusteth in thee." There is real reliance 
on God, and the calm repose of faith. "His left 
hand is under my head, and his right hand doth 
embrace me." 

It is under similar circumstances that the charge 
which occurs in the following verse is repeated on 
two other occasions in this book ; implying that, in 
the exercise of tender love, the Lord Jesus would 
fain forbid any hindrance to such exquisite enjoy- 
ment on the part of his Bride. The passage is so 
understood on the authority of many commentators, 
who render the last words " till she please," but the 
sense is not determined by the original. 

Yer. 7. " i" charge you, 0 ye daughters of Jeru- 
salem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, 
that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till she 
please" 

When we lose such precious and hallowed enjoy- 
ment in seasons of communion with the Lord, the 
fault is our own — " Till she please." What a solemn 
thought ! 

The reference to " the roes and the hinds of the 
field," is perhaps best explained by the peculiar 
characteristics of each, as pointed out in Prov. v. 1 9 
— " The loving hind and pleasant roe." The selec- 
tion of pleasing, loving, and tender objects, at once 
suggests the idea, that, by the dearest and sweetest 



44 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



delights now experienced by his Bride, the Lord 
Jesus solemnly charged the daughters of Jerusalem 
not to disturb or break in upon her hallowed com- 
munion with himself. Alas ! there will always be 
a limit to such seasons, so long as we are militant 
here on earth ; there will always be a " till she 
please." The Bride either needs to be aroused and 
quickened, as in the verses immediately following ; 
or to be reminded of her constant call to conflict and 
warfare, as in chap. iii. 5—8 ; or to come up from 
the wilderness and grow in holy zeal for the welfare 
of others, as in chap. viii. 4-12. She would indo- 
lently rest in her 'present happiness, were not the Lord 
graciously to rouse her to the sense of her true con- 
dition ; and consequently we find him actually deal- 
ing thus with her after each repetition of this charge. 
Distinct lessons of Christian experience are in each 
case brought before us, divinely adapted to different 
stages of the Christian life. 

The Bride. 

Ver. 8. " The voice of my beloved ! behold, he cometh 
leaping upon the mountains, slapping upon the 
hills:' 

" The voice of my beloved ! " It is an exclama- 
tion of surprise, plainly intimating that that voice 
broke in upon a season of silence. But it was 
instantly recognised ; for Jesus was no stranger to 
her. The sheep of Christ's fold " know his voice " 



CHAPTER II. 



45 



(John x. 4), and gladly welcome it. " Speak, Lord, 
for thy servant heareth " (1 Sam. iii. 9, 10). 

Whatever dulness and deadness may have crept 
over the Bride, there was none on the part of her 
beloved. " Behold, he cometh leaping upon the 
mountains, skipping upon the hills." Like the 
father of the returning prodigal, " who ran? &c. 
(Luke xv. 20), for his bowels yearned over her, 

" The voice of my beloved sounds 
Over the rocks and rising grounds ; 
O'er hills of guilt and seas of grief, 
He leaps, he flies to my relief. " — Watts. 

Ver. 9. " My beloved is like a roe or a young hart ; 
behold, he standeth behind our ivall, he looheth 
forth at the windows, shewing himself through the 
lattice." 

So swift is Jesus in drawing nigh to his people, 
even like a roe or a young hart ! He will (i make 
no long tarrying." "Surely I come quickly/ " (Ps. 
Ixx. 5 j Eev. xxii. 20). " Behold, he standeth behind 
our wall " — " a God at hand" (Jer. xxiii. 23). " I 
stand at the door and knock," were the words of 
Christ to the Laodicean church in her lukewarm - 
ness (Rev. iii. 14-20). Sin had raised up a wall 
of separation, which had hid his face ; but " he 
standeth behind the wall." 

" Though often unperceived by sense, 
Faith sees him always near. " 

Unbelief hides J esus from us, so that, when we sin, 
though he be standing close beside us, we cannot see 



46 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



him. Like Jacob, we may say, " Surely God is in 
this place, and I knew it not " (Gen. xxviii. 1 6). Here 
is comfort for the poor, disconsolate believer, who is 
walking in darkness and has no light ; the inward 
sense of his presence may be lost, but behind the wall 
of sin there is Jesus. He is no further off than " at 
the door " of thy heart. " Behold, he standeth be- 
hind our wall." 

Nor is this all : " He looketh forth at the windows." 
" The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous." His 
eye can penetrate that wall through which thou canst 
not see. " He looketh forth." * 

Where is the Peter ready to deny his Lord, upon 
whom Jesus does not " turn and look " r l (Luke xxii. 
61.) Where is the Nathanael under the fig-tree, 
whom Jesus has not seen f (John i. 48.) Where is 
the Zacche us-like spirit, " seeking to see Jesus," 
upon whom Jesus has not looked forth ? (Luke xix. 3, 
5.) Or where the returning prodigal whom the 
Father does not see, "while he is yet a great way 
off"? (Luke xv. 20.) "He looketh forth at the 
windows." 

" Shewing himself through the lattice." I will 
love him, and will manifest myself unto him " (John 
xiv. 21). " And he was known of them in breaking 
of bread" (Luke xxiv. 35). Such are the gracious 
manifestations Jesus makes of himself to his Church ! 
And although " now we see through a glass darkly," 

* "This word 'looketh' is found but three times in Scripture, and 
signineth to look with observation, making diligent search, looking 
narrowly. " — Rowboth am. 



CHAPTER. II. 



47 



and, as it were, "through the lattice" only, it is still 
Jesus "himself" that we see — " his own self.' 9 

It is the special office of the Holy Spirit to take 
of the things of Jesus and "shew" them unto us 
(John xvi. 14, 15). And while "looking unto 
Jesus," by faith, we get such precious glimpses of 
"himself," that we cannot but long for his "appear- 
ing" when we shall " see the King in his beauty," 
"which in his times he shall shew" (Titus ii. 13 ; 
Isa. xxxiii. 17 j 1 Tim. vi. 14-16). 

Ver. 10. "My beloved spake, and said unto me, Fuse 
up, my love, my fair one, and come away" 

Not only " the voice," but the words of Jesus are 
now heard, and they are precious because they are 
his. " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the 
Spirit saith unto the churches." They are rousing, 
quickening words. Christ would not have us rest 
in any frames and feelings, be they happy and com- 
fortable, or disconsolate and bitter. We must be 
continually " reaching forth unto those things which 
are before." 

" Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." 
"Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest" 
(Mic. ii. 10). Rest not in any past attainments ; 
rest not at any distance from Jesus ; rest not in 
ordinances ; rest not in a cast-down and desponding 
state of mind; " rise up, and come away." Come to 
the better things which God hath prepared for them 
that love him. 



48 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON, 



Christ addresses her in the kindest language — " My 
lore, my fair one and she received his words as 
spoken to herself- — " My beloved spake, and said unto 
me." There is great force in the personal appropria- 
tion of the words of Jesus to our own souls. Not a 
lamb in his fold that is not known to him by name, 
and there is no presumption in appropriating his 
words to ourselves, no, not even when he says, " My 
love, my fair one f ' His thoughts are " thoughts 
of peace," and he " speaks peace unto his people 5 ' 
(Jer. xxix. 11; Ps. lxxxv. 8). 

Ver. 11. "For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over 
and gone." 

"What a lovely lesson is taught us here ! The 
Lord will not dwell upon the wintry state of his 
Church — neither should we. "Whilst he adds figure 
to figure in subsequent parts of this book, to set forth 
the loveliness of his Bride, and the blossoming of her 
graces in the spring season, with the ripening of her 
fruits and flowers in the summer and autumn, the 
whole of the winter season is summed up in these 
few words — " The winter is past, the rain is over and 
gone." And even these are to tell that it is "past!" 

" Old things are passed away ; behold, all things 
are become new " — " You hath he quickened, who 
were dead," &c. (2 Cor. v. 17 ; Eph. ii. 1, &c.) All 
the storms of winter have passed away. " I have 
blotted out, as a cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a 
thick cloud, thy sins : return unto me "for, lo, the 



CHAPTER IT. 



49 



winter is past, the rain is over and gone.'" " The 
iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall 
be none ; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not 
be found" (Isa. xliv. 22 ; Jer. 1. 20). Jesus has 
borne them all away into a land of forgetfulness ! 

Therefore, dwell no longer in the dust, nor sit in 
sackcloth and ashes, brooding over past offences ; 
but learn this lesson from the words of Jesus — when 
it is winter with thee, follow the example he has left 
thee in turning away his eyes from thy barrenness ; 
and, looking away from thyself, and all thy wintry 
coldness, fix thy steady gaze upon the rising beams 
of " the Sun of Eighteousness " — for " he shall be as 
the light of the morning, when the snn riseth, even 
a morning without clouds ; as the tender grass 
springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain " 
(Mai. iv. 2 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 4). 

For so the darkness and gloominess of " winter," 
the cheerlessness and discomfort of " rain," the 
gathering clouds and the pelting storms, shall all be 
dispelled by the quickening rays of the returning 
sunshine (Eph. v. 8 ; Ps. xlii. 5-8 ; Ps. cxxvi. 5). 

Yer. 12. "The flowers appear on the earth." 

Here are evidences adduced that it is even as the 
Lord had said. The winter is past, for " the 
flowers appear on the earth" — -"the precious fruits 
brought forth by the sun" (Deut. xxxiii. 14). The 
budding of "the flowers" — -the very first sign of 
returning spring — is taken notice of ; so the Lord 

D 



50 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



Jesus marks the first indications of grace in the soul. 
He sees the flower in the bud — the blossom as well 
as the fruit. " He will not break the bruised reed, 
nor quench the smoking flax/' nor despise u the day 
of small things" (Matt. xii. 20: Zech. iy. 10). 
"First the blade, then the ear. and after that the 
full corn in the ear" (Mark iv. 2S). So graciously 
is the first appearance of the flowers on the earth 
attended to. 

" The time of the singing of birds is come, and the 
voice of the turtle is heard in our land" 

The singing of birds " is an acknowledged and 
welcome token of the return of spring. And " the 
voice of the turtle " (a bird of passage, emphatically 
mentioned in Jer. viii. 7. as " observing the time of 
its coming ") marks the peculiar season of the year 
with double force. Thus we learn that evidences 
are not to be lightly esteemed. The spring season, 
in the history of St Paul, was noticed by the Lord 
in those remarkable words. "Behold, he prayeth." 
The low, gentle sound of the turtle's voice is dis- 
tinctly heard on high, as well as the more cheerful 
sound of praise which is heard in the tabernacles of 
the righteous. 

Yer. 1 3. " The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and 
the vines with the tender grape give a good smell" 

What words of encouragement are here ! " The 
tender grape gives a good smell." The youngest 



CHAPTER II. 



51 



believer — the flower in the bud — is fragrant unto 
the Lord; and the yet unripe fruit — "the green 
figs" — are acceptable to Jesus ! Do we write bitter 
things against ourselves because of our unfruitful- 
k ness 1 So does not Jesus — " Thus saith the Lord, 
I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the 
love of thine espousals/ &c. (Jer. ii. 2). The 
feeblest attempts of the child of God, the putting 
forth of "green figs," is noticed and accepted by 
Jesus. 

" The vines with the tender grape give a good 
smell." "The things which were sent from you 
(writes St Paul to the Philippians) were an odour 
of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing 
to God" (Phil, iv. 18). So small a service as the 
ministering to the saints, is an odour of a sweet 
smell to God. What a comfort this should be to 
the saint who is "rich in good works," as an evi- 
dence that with him " the winter is past," and the 
sun has arisen upon his once frozen heart of stone ! 
" God is not unrighteous to forget your work and 
labour of love" (Heb. vi. 10 • Rom. vi. 22 ; Hosea 
xiv. 8). 

" Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." 

" Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings, 
Thy better portion trace ; 
Rise from transitory things 
Towards heaven — thy native place." 

" Awake, awake, put on thy beautiful garments, 
! 0 Jerusalem ; shake thyself from the dust ; arise 

I 



52 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON". 



and sit down," &c. (Isa. lii. 1, 2). " / ivill arise, 
and go to my father." 

It is a precious invitation, for it is Christ that 
calls ; and he does not bid us depart, but " Come' 1 
" Come out, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and 
I will receive you." " Come unto me " — " Come 
away "(2 Cor. vi. 17, 18). "Forgetting those 
things which are behind, and reaching forth," &c. 
(Philip, iii. 13, 14). 

" Rise, saith my Lord, make haste away, 
No mortal joys are worth thy stay. 

' ' And when we hear our Jesus say, 
Rise up, my love, make haste away, 
Our hearts would fain outfly the wind, 
And leave all earthly things behind." — Watts. 

Christ's Invitation. 

Yer. 14. " 0 my dove, that art in the clefts of the 
rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see 
thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet 
is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely? 

No figure could more beautifully represent the 
Church of Christ, than a dove hid in the clefts of 
the rock. 

" Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee." — Toplady. 

" Be thou to me for a rock of habitation, where- 
unto I may continually resort " — " In the time of 
trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion ; in the 
secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me ; he shall 



CHAPTER II. 



53 



set me upon a rock" — " When my heart is over- 
whelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I" 
(Ps. lxxi. 3 ; Ps. xxvii. 5 ; Ps. lxi. 2 ; Ps. xxxi. 2, 3). 
u The secret places of the stairs" is not a distinct 
figure from the rock ; for it has evident reference to 
the gardens in the East, where the terraces one above 
another were cut out of the rock • and to these ter- 
races the stairs were the ordinary means of ascent. 
The timid dove took refuge there, and found it a 
secure " hiding-place" and a precious shelter (Isa. 
xxxii. 2). " He shall dwell on high ; his place of 
defence shall be the munitions of rocks ; " therefore 
" trust ye in the Lord for ever ; for in the Lord 
Jehovah is the Eock of Ages" (Isaiah xxxiii. 16, and 
xx vi. 4, margin). 

Thrice blessed they who are hidden in the cleft 
of that Rock (Ex. xxxiii. 18-23), that they may see 
the goodness of the Lord, and be safe when the 
billows swell, and the storm rises high ! It is only 
while we are thus " in Christ Jesus " that our 
countenance beams with the reflection of his glory, 
and that his Spirit breathes through us, and makes 
our voice sweet. But the Father delights in us, in 
his well-beloved Son, and loves to hear the breath- 
ings of " the Spirit of his Son in our hearts, crying, 
Abba, Father." " Let me see thy countenance, let 
me hear thy voice ; for sweet is thy voice, and thy 
countenance is comely." " The prayer of the up- 
right is his delight." 

How strange and sad it is that we should be so 



54 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



silent — so slow to pray, so slow to praise, when 
Jesus is saying to us, " Let ine hear thy voice " ! If 
it is " sweet " to him, should we not be offering the 
sacrifice of praise "continually"? (Heb. xiii. 15.) If 
it be in our power to yield a moment's pleasure to 
our Beloved, should we not delight to let him hear 
our voice i Alas ! that he should hear our voice so 
seldom ! Our faith in his word is so small, that 
we barely believe him when he affirms that it is 
" sweet." Yet he says, " Thy lips, 0 my spouse, 
drop as the honeycomb " — " Thy lips are like a 
thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely" — 
^ Sweet is thy voice" (Cant. iv. 3, 11), He even 
loves to hear us speaking of him to one another 
(Mai. iii. 16). And the secret of God's delight in 
the voice of his people is simply this — " It is not ye 
that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which 
speaketh in you " (Matt. x. 20). 

For the same reason he sees beauty in their 
countenance ; for the soul that is much in com- 
munion with Jesus reflects his beauty, being 
" changed into the same image, from glory to glory, 
even as by the Lord the Spirit" (2 Cor. iii. 18). 
Thus, when Moses was forty days in the mount, 
" his face shone" (Ex. xxxiv. 29), though he wist it 
not. " So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty." 
" Thy countenance is comely ! " " All fair."- 



CHAPTER II. 



DO 



The Bride. 

Yei\ 15. " Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that 
spoil the vines : for our vines have tender grapes." 

The Bride here is all intent upon the care of 
the vineyard, and conscious of the danger to her 
" tender grapes " from " the foxes, the little foxes." 
In Eastern countries, where the gardens and vine- 
yards were cut out of the rocks in terraces, these 
" little foxes w concealed themselves in great num- 
bers under the luxuriant foliage of the vines, and 
did great mischief, especially in spring, among the 
" tender grapes. n 

Well, therefore, may the Church cry out, 

Cleanse thou me from secret faults" (Ps. xix. 12) 
— those subtle and almost unperceived sins which 
so sadly " spoil the vines." " Let us lay aside 
every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset 
us," " looking diligently lest any man fail of the 
grace of God'' (Heb. xii. 1, 15 ; 2 Tim. ii. 16, 17). 

" The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of 
riches, the lusts and pleasures of life," all which 
" choke the word? so that we become unfruitful, 
may be understood by these little foxes. They 
secretly eat away the tender grapes, and spoil the 
vines ; therefore they should be diligently and 
earnestly prayed against (Luke viii. 14). This 
watchful care bespeaks that integrity of heart in 
the Bride which leads to the precious " assurance " 



56 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



and " confidence n of faith, expressed in the follow- 
ing verse: — "For if our heart condemn us not. 
then have we confidence toward God n (1 John hi. 
21). The indulgence of any, the least known sin. 
condemns us, and our happy sense of assurance is 
clouded ; but in the exercise of strict watchfulness, 
it is sweetly realised. 

Ver. 16. "My beloved is mine, and I dm Ms: he 

feedeth among the lilies" 

Here is faith in strong and lively exercise—" the 
full assurance of faith," accompanied, as it ever is, 
with a true heart (Heb. x. 22). " My beloved is 
mine, and I am his." It is appropriating faith — a 
full realising of her covenant relationship with him.. 
'•'My beloved is mine," for he has given himself to 
me i " and I am his,*' for he has bought me with his 
own blood ! " Ye are not your own, for ye are 
bought with a price." Living or dying, we are 
? the Lord's" (Rom. xiv. 7, S ; 1 Cor. vi. 20). 

To this the Bride adds, " He feedeth among the 
lilies. 5 ' She has been comparing herself to a vine- 
yard or garden, and now she expresses her belief 
that her Beloved is " in the midst of her/' feeding 
among the plants of his own right-hand planting. 

Ver. 17. u Until the day break, and the shadows 
flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe 
or a young hart upon the mountains of B ether.'' 

The " assurance of faith " leads on to the " assur- 



CHAPTEE IT, 



07 



ance of hope." For as in verse 16 there was " the 
full assurance of faith," bringing a sense of present 
peace and enjoyment into the soul, so here there is 
" the full assurance of hope," looking forward to yet 
fuller and brighter manifestations of her Beloved 
in his presence, uninterruptedly and for ever. For 
there, day and night, sunshine and shadow, light 
and darkness, shall have merged into one eternal 
day — emphatically called "the Bay'' 1 "Until the 
day break ! " 

"Here often from our eyes 

Clouds hide the light divine ! 
There we shall have unclouded skies, 
Our sun will always shine." 

Even the first rising beams of the Sun of 
Eighteousness, at the breaking of that day, shall 
dispel every shadow — " the shadows flee away." 

Many are the shadows which now hide from our 
eyes the sight of that glorious day. " For now we 
see through a glass darkly," or " in a riddle" (1 Cor. 
xiii. 12) — it is but partial light. Ordinances, too, 
are but the shadow of heavenly things — " a shadow 
of things to come" (Heb. x. 1; Col. ii. 16, 17). 
And our bodies, likewise, screen the light of day 
from us, for " whilst we are at home in the body, 
we are absent from the Lord." They hinder our 
"sight" of Jesus, and while in them we can only 
"walk by faith" (2 Cor. v. 6, 7). But all these 
shall " flee away." " For when that which is per- 
fect is come, then that which is in part shall be done 
away" (1 Cor. xiii. 10). "Thy sun shall no more 



58 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



go down ; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself : 
for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light " (Isa. 
lx. 20). " And there shall be no night there ; and 
they need no candle, neither light of the snn \ for the 
Lord God giveth them light " (Rev. xxii. 5). " He shall 
be as the light of the morning when the snn riseth. 
even a morning without clouds" (2 Sam. xxiii. 4). 

Such is the believer's prospect for the future ; 
and the earnest "looking for that blessed hope'' 
begets a spirit of prayer in the soul, that u until the 
day break " we may be " kept by the power of God 
through faith unto salvation." " Until the day 
break, turn, my beloved ; " or, more literally, " en- 
compass " — " be on every side " of me. Keep me as 
in a garrison (1 Pet. i. 5). Thus, in Ps. lxxi. 21, 
the word here rendered " turn," is translated " com- 
fort me on every side." 

" And be thou like a roe or a young hart upon 
the mountains of Bether" (margin, "division"). 
There are yet manifold hindrances and mountains 
of separation between us and glory, but Jesus has 
broken down every wall of partition. " And this is 
the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel — Who art 
thou, 0 great mountain ? before Zerubbabel thou 
shalt become a plain" (Zech. iv. 6, 7). Often when 
we imagine that mountains of division lie between us 
and Jesus, we find him present with the swiftness of 
a roe or a young hart. 

Contrast these " mountains of division " with the 
" mountains of spices " in Cant. viii. 14. 



CHAPTER III. 



The Bride. 

Ver. 1. "By night on my bed I sought him whom 
my soul loveth; I sought him, but I found him 
not" 

We are almost ready to exclaim — Can such be the 
language of one who but so lately had said, " A 
bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me : 
he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts " 1 (chap, 
i. 13.) 

It is to be feared, however, that every believing 
child of God will too well understand the sad change 
by painful experience, to doubt its truth for one 
moment. And it is experience that frequently 
follows upon seasons of hallowed communion. There 
is a liability to rest in enjoyment — to cast off the 
weapons of our warfare, and vainly to indulge the 
delusive persuasion that all the night season, until 
the day dawn, may be passed in perfect security and 
ease. Like David, we are prone in our prosperity 
to say, " I shall never be moved : Lord, by thy 
favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong" 



60 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



(Ps. xxx. 6, 7), And thus we fall into spiritual 
darkness, and into a state of carnal ease and sloth- 
ful indolence most aptly described as the night 
season, passed upon a bed of sloth. "By night 
upon mj bed I sought him whom my soul loveth ; 
I sought him, but I found him not." 

" Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled " 
(Ps. xxx. 7). 

" If thou withdraw, 'tis night." 

u Woe to them that are at ease in Zion .... that 
lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon 
their couches ! " (Amos vi. 1, 4.) It is an unspeak- 
able mercy when the Lord gives the soul no rest in 
such a state. The promise is, " They shall find me 
when they search for me with all their heart " (Jer. 
xxix. 13). No wonder, therefore, that the Bride 
sought in vain, when she sought him only on her 
bed. " They have not cried unto me with their 
heart, when they howled upon their beds " (Hos. vii. 
14). "There is none that stlrreth up himself to take 
hold of thee " (Isa. lxiv. 7). We must not be sloth- 
ful, but fervent in spirit, if we would walk in com- 
munion with Christ (Heb. vi. 12 ; Rom. xii. 11). 

Still, although there was indolence, there was yet 
sincerity in the search of the Bride for her Beloved ; 
" I sought him whom ray soul loveth" (John xx. 17). 
And, consequently, there could be no rest or enjoy- 
ment in his absence. " With my soul have I 
desired thee in the night" — "I cry in the night 
season, and am not silent" (Isa. xxvi. 9 ; Ps. xxii. 2). 



CHAPTER III. 



61 



How strikingly does such a state altogether con- 
trast with the vigilant watchfulness the Lord requires 
of his servants when he cometh ! " Blessed are those 
servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find 
watching. . . . And if he shall come in the second 
watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, 
blessed are those servants" (Luke xii. 37, 38). 

Ver. 2. "I will rise now, and go about the city in 
the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him 
whom my soid loveth : I sought him, hut I found 
him not? 

In this state of restless uneasiness upon her bed, 
the Bride resolves upon a more diligent search. 
Like the prodigal, she says, " I will arise," &c. And, 
like him, she not only resolves, but acts. " And 
he arose, 1 ' <fcc. (Luke xv. 18-20). "I sought him," 
&c. She calls to remembrance the voice of the Good 
Shepherd (chap. 1. 8), "Go thy way forth by the 
footsteps of the flock; " and at once determines upon 
seeking him thus in " the city, in the streets, and in 
the broad ways" — the usual resort of the citizens of 
Zion. " Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves 
together" (Heb. x. 25). 

a I will rise now — I will seek him." Here is real 
effort, a true evidence of sincerity of purpose. Here 
is also a restless uneasiness and dissatisfaction with 
everything short of Christ. " I will seek him ; " and 
yet, once more, it is a present determination to seek 
him without delay — " I will rise now." 



62 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



But sensible enjoyment is not immediately re- 
gained : " I sought him, but I found him not." Like 
Job — " 0 that I knew where I might find him ! 
Behold. I go forward, but he is not there ; backward, 
but I cannot perceive him. On the left hand, but 
I cannot behold him : he hideth himself on the right 
hand, that I cannot see him" (Job. xxiii. 2, 8, 9). 
" Now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness 
through manifold temptations/ 5 for the " trial oi your 
faith" (1 Pet. i. 6. 7). These trying, sifting times 
work for ultimate °;ood, though the chastening; for 
the present be grievous. 

A blessing is often realised in social intercourse ; 
" That I may be comforted/' writes St Paul, " by 
the mutual faith of you and me" (Rom. i. 12); of 
the " fellow-citizens" in the household of faith. But 
it is not always so. We may be in the very midst 
of means of grace, and yet not find Christ in them, 
as was the case with the Bride. ;> I sought him, 
but I found him not." And now her sincerity was 
put to a searching test ; would anything short of 
Christ himself satisfy 1 No. She cannot rest there, 
for she has not found " him? 

Ver. 3. " Tiie watchmen that go about the city found 
me : to whom I said \ Saw ye him whom my soul 
loveth ? " 

" I have set watchmen upon thy walls, 0 Jeru- 
salem" — They watch for your souls as they that 
must give account " (Tsa. lxii. 6 : Heb. xiii. 17 ; Ezek. 



CHAPTER HI. 



63 



iii. 17 \ Jer. vi. 17). " The priest's lips should keep 
knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth ; 
for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts'' (Mai. 
ii. 7). The Bride was, therefore, making nse of 
.those appointed means of grace to which God promises 
his blessing. " I being in the way, the Lord led me " 
— " The watchmen found me " — a precious token to 
her that she was indeed in the right way. 

She immediately asks them after Christ, not even 
waiting to explain of whom she spake. "Xothing 
but Christ, nothing but Christ, 5 ' was ever the lan- 
guage of her heart. Her one question is, " Saw ye 
him whom my soul loveth I " 

There is something of deep interest in the threefold 
repetition of this expression, during the Bride's search 
after her absent Saviour : (: I sought him whom my 
soul loveth" (ver. 1) ; " I will seek him whom my 
soul loveth" (ver. 2) ; "Saw ye him whom my soul 
loveth ? " (ver. 3.) It forms a strikingly beautiful 
reply to the thrice-repeated question of our Lord to 
Peter, " Lovest thou me ? " 0 for that true sincerity 
of love (Phil. i. 10 : Eph. vi. 24) which may enable 
us always to answer, (: Lord, thou knowest all things : 
thou knowest that I love thee ' : ! (John xxi. 1-5-17.) 

But the watchmen were not Christ, and the Bride 
is not yet satisfied. It is the Lord's presence in the 
means, and not the means themselves, that gives 
peace and healing. The man lay by the pool of 
Bethesda "thirty and eight years." but the waters 



G4 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



were only effectual when an angel stepped in and 
troubled them (John v. 3-7). 

Ver. 4. " It was but a little that I passed from them, 
but I found him whom my soul loveth" 

Precious encouragement ! " For in due season 
we shall reap, if we faint not " — " I said not unto the 
seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain' — " Seek, and ye 
shall find" — " Then shall we know, ifwefolloiv on to 
know the Lord" (Gal. yi. 9 ; Isa. xlv. 19 ; Matt. yii. 
7 j Hos. yi. 1-3). 

" It was but a little that I passed from them j" she 
was very near him in the use of the appointed means, 
still she would not rest in the means ; she passed on 
from the watchmen to the Lord himself. 

It was very like Mary at the sepulchre, seeking 
for Jesus. The angels " found her," being the di- 
vinely appointed guard set to watch the sepulchre ; 
and when they inquired of her why she wept, she 
answered, " Because they have taken away my Lord" 
&c. She " passed from them" (for nothing but 
Christ would do for her), and next addressing her- 
self to one whom she supposed to be the gardener, 
she earnestly exclaims, " Sir, if thou have borne him 
hence, tell me where thou hast laid him." She 
knew not how near Jesus himself was to her all this 
time—" She knew not that it was Jesus," but, lo ! 
she found him whom her soul loved (John xx. 11-16). 

What blessed experience ! 



CHAPTER III. 



63 



" / held him, and would not let him go, until I had 
brought him into my mother s house, and into the 
chamber of her that conceived me" 

M Hold fast that thou hast " (Rev. iii. 11). Like 
Jacob wrestling with the angel, say, " I will not let 
thee go, except thou bless me ; " and, like the dis- 
ciples, hold fast thy Saviour " by his feet," lest thou 
lose him again (Gen. xxxii. 26 ; Matt, xxviii. 9). 

"As a little weeping child will hold its mother 
fast, not because it is stronger than she, but because 
the mother's bowels so constrain her, that she 
cannot leave the child ; even so Christ, yearning 
over the believer, cannot go, because he will not." — 
Durham. 

The expression, " my mother's house," seems to 
be in allusion to the second birth of the Spirit (John 
iii. 5-8), by which the soul is brought into vital 
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. " That which is 
born of the Spirit is spirit." The meaning of the 
words, therefore, is, bringing Christ into the heart 
— " that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith " 
(Eph. iii. 17). "My little children," writes the 
apostle, "of whom I travail in birth again until 
Christ be formed in you" (Gal. iv. 19). How won- 
derful, that our souls should be the chambers in 
which Jesus dwells ! 

" I held him, and would not let him go, until I 
had brought him into my mother's house," &c. 
There is a very powerful meaning in these words, in 
the connexion in which they stand. The Bride had 

E 



66 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



lost her own personal communion with Jesus (ver. 
1-3), and had to seek him abroad "in the city." 
He was, so to speak, absent from " the chamber " of 
her heart, and this she could not bear. Truly the 
night of life must ever be a restless one, if passed 
alone without Jesus ! 

But this restlessness of the Bride was the proof of 
her sincerity. This is exactly the test of the true 
child of God, as distinguished from the mere profes- 
sor. The one is content with a general knowledge 
of Christ, as present with his Church, &c, but the 
other can be satisfied with nothing short of direct, 
personal appropriation of him — a bringing of him 
home to the secret " chambers " of the soul, and a 
holy constraining of him to abide there ! " I held 
him, and would not let him go." 

Cheist. 

Yer. 5. " I charge you, 0 ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye 
stir not up, nor awake my love, till she please." 

This holy determination to hold fast her Beloved, 
is graciously responded to by him, in a repeated 
charge to the daughters of Jerusalem that they 
should not disturb her (comp. chap. ii. 7). These 
are happy seasons, indeed, when for a time the soul 
rests by faith in the arms of her Beloved — leaning 
on his bosom, in actual realisation of "the commu- 
nion of the Holy Ghost." Words fail to give utter- 



CHAPTER III. 



67 



ance to what it is, but St John seemed peculiarly to 
enter into the experience of it, when he said, " Truly, 
our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son 
Jesus Christ" (1 John i. 3). This season of repose, 
however, is soon exchanged for wilderness journey- 
ings. Israel could only rest while the pillar of 
cloud and of fire " tarried." Oh ! how sweet it 
will be when our journey of love is ended, and we 
plunge into the ocean fulness of the God of love 
for all eternity ! 

Yer. 6. " Who is this that cometh out of the wilder- 
ness, like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh 
and frankincense, with all powders of the mer- 
chant f " 

The use of the feminine gender here, in the 
original, proves these words to be spoken of the 
Bride. " Who is she that cometh out of the wilder- 
ness 1 " 

There is evident reference to the wilderness his- 
tory of the children of Israel, and to the tabernacle 
worship, from whence the acceptable incense of 
prayer and praise was ever ascending — " incense 
of spices " being offered upon the golden altar every 
morning, " for a perpetual incense before the Lord" 
(Ex. xxx. 1-8). For thus every step of the way 
was rendered fragrant to the Lord. " Who is she 
that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of 
smoke (or smoke of burning incense), perfumed 
with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of 



68 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



the merchant 1 " It is a precious thought to 
believers, that eyen now, in the wilderness of this 
world, they may yield such sweet fragrance to Jesus. 

And it has been beautifully remarked, that 
"some realise much of the wilderness character 
of this world, and a keen sense of its privations, 
who but little apprehend it as the place in which 
they may collect abundance of precious things to 
enhance their joys hereafter. But associations of 
trial are not the only ones to be linked with the 
wilderness ; and though, as natural persons, we 
know nothing of c myrrh and frankincense,' and our 
privations only elicit murmurings and unbelief ; 
yet, as renewed in Christ, they become the very 
means of developing our Christian graces. And, 
laden with these fruit s, of desert origin, we shall 
one day, like the Bride, come up out of the wilder- 
ness, and remember it only as the place where we 
gathered the fragrance to be for ever attached to our 
persons in heaven. Who will complain, then, of 
the trials and discipline which have been the means 
of enabling him to obtain these ' powders of the 
merchant,' and thus to yield to the Lord a perfume 
unpossessed by any angel above ? " 

These are precious considerations to such as are 
(as yet) but coining out of " the wilderness." Our 
" forty years' " wandering there is not in vain. But 
it is merely glanced at here. For this chapter con- 
tains within itself a brief and yet comprehensive 
summary of the Church's history. 



CHAPTER III. 



In ver. 6, its " wilderness" character is referred to. 

In ver. 7, 8, it is seen as the Church " militant 
here on earth." 

In ver. 9, 10, Christ is seen dwelling in believers, 
as the members of his body ; and in ver. 11, there 
is the final consummation in the kingdom of glory. 

Ver. 7. " Behold his bed, which is Solomons ; three- 
score valiant men are about it, of the valiant of 
Israel" 

The word rendered " bed " is properly a " litter " 
or travelling conveyance, still keeping up the idea 
in the preceding verse of journeying: It is the tem- 
porary resting-place of the King. " Behold his bed, 
which is Solomon's." The allusion appears to be to 
the tabernacle, of which it is written, " The ark of 
God dwelleth within curtains and so God himself 
speaks of having " walked in a tent, and in a taber- 
nacle," in all the places where he walked with the 
children of Israel (2 Sam. vii. 2, 6, 7). The ark was 
the symbol of his presence, and the tabernacle was 
its "resting-place" (Xumb. x. 33-36). Around it 
the tribes of Israel were encamped throughout their 
armies, every man by his own standard (Numb. L 
and ii.) — as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. 

Thus the " bed," or resting-place, of King Solomon, 
stands in most striking contrast to the bed of carnal 
sloth and ease, spoken of by the Bride in ver. 1 — 
the one, a place of idle security ; the other, of active 
service. 



70 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON, 



Ver. 8. u They all hold swords, being expert in war." 

" Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word 
of God," &c., and fight manfully under the banners 
of the Captain of your salvation — " For the weapons 
of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through 
God to the pulling down of strongholds " (Eph. vi. 
17 ; 2 Cor. x. 4). The Christian life is one of con- 
tinual warfare ; " there is no casting off weapons." 
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but 
against principalities, against powers," &c. (Eph. vi. 
12). 

We therefore need to be " expert," " not ignorant 
of the devices" of our great enemy (2 Cor. ii. 11). 
And in order to this, we must be trained under our 
great Leader and Captain : " Blessed be the Lord 
my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and 
my fingers to fight " (Ps. cxliv. 1, 2 ; Ps. xviii. 32, 
&c.) We must be clothed in the " whole armour " 
he has provided for us (Eph. vi. 13, &c), carefully 
remembering also, that " no man that warreth en- 
tangleth himself with the affairs of this life " (2 Tim. 
ii. 3, 4). We bear sadly too little of the soldiers life 
and character about with us, though it is the one so 
especially belonging to us as members of Christ's 
Church militant here upon earth. The sword should 
be ever in hand. 

" Every man hath his sword upon his thigh, because of 
fear in the night* 

" Every man " — for it is an individual conflict : 



CHAPTER III. 



71 



they all hold swords. Not one follower of Jesus but 
is called to "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim. 
vi. 12 • 2 Tim. ii. 3). 

As it is written of our Captain, " Gird thy sword 
upon thy thigh, 0 most mighty," so has the Lord 
commanded to each of his soldiers, ic Put every man 
his sword by his side " (Ps. xlv. 3 \ Ex. xxxii. 26, 
27). 

Thus, in Neh. iv. 18, we read that "every one had 
his sword girded by his side, and so builded." " Your 
loins girded." It must be an habitual thing, for at 
the moment of attack no time will be allowed for 
girding on armour. We must be ready, lest it be 
with us as with the foolish virgins, who, when the 
cry was made at midnight, " Behold, the bridegroom 
cometh," had no oil in their lamps ! 

Let us not have to own, to our shame, that we 
seek the Lord, if haply we may find him, by night 
upon our beds ; but rather be found a watching" with 
our loins girded and our lamps burning all through 
the night of conflict, till the rising " Sun of Kighte- 
ousness " puts every enemy to flight by his noonday 
shining (Ps. civ. 22). 

Yer. 9. "King Solomon made himself a chariot of 
the wood of Lebanon." 

Another stage of the Church's history is now 
glanced at. King Solomon no longer abides, as it 
were, " within curtains ;" but makes for himself a 
more durable and lasting dwelling-place — " a chariot 



72 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



(margin, 'bed') of the wood of Lebanon." It was 
emphatically of this wood that the temple was built ; 
it was even called "an house of cedar"" (2 Sam. vii. 
7). "All was cedar ', there was no stone seen" (1 
Kings vi. 15-18). Of this building, spiritually 
applied, the Lord Jesus is himself the foundation, 
"the chief corner stone, in whom all the building, 
fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple 
in the Lord" (Eph. ii. 20, 21). We, as lively stones, 
are built up a spiritual house for the Lord to dwell 
in. He makes himself a dwelling-place in believers : 
" the temple of his body." 

Ver. 10. "He made the pillars thereof of silver, the 
bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple; 
the midst thereof being paved with love, for the 
daughters of Jerusalem" 

The pillars of " silver " denote durability, and the 
names of the two pillars, which Solomon set up in 
the temple of the Lord, signified, " He shall establish," 
and "In it is strength" (1 Kings vii. 21, margin). 
" The bottom thereof of gold " bespeaks its amazing 
costliness, Not only was every part of the house 
" overlaid with gold," but even " the floor, within and 
without " (1 Kings vi. 30) ; and the " purple " 
denotes royalty. 

Such was the royal residence of the true Solomon 
— the King of kings. It has its spiritual antitype 
in the Church now, and it shall have its full accom- 
plishment in the heavenly temple, where the faithful 



CHAPTER III. 



73 



ones who have overcome shall be made pillars to 
go no more out (Eev. iii. 12), the street of the city 
being "pure gold " (Rev. xxi. 21), and the inhabit- 
ants " kings and priests," to reign as co-kings with 
Jesus for ever and ever (Rev. xxii. 5). 

And yet, its chief glory remains to be spoken of 
— " the midst thereof being paved with love!" The 
very foundation on which it rests is, " God is love." 
" He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God 
in him" (1 John iv. 8, 16). 

u He shall rest in his love!" (Zeph. iii, 17). 

Ver. 11. " Go forth, 0 ye daughters of Zion, and 
behold King Solomon with the crown wherewith his 
mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, 
and in the day of the gladness of his heart" 

" Oh that the months would roll away, 
And bring that coronation day ! 
The King of Grace shall fill the throne, 
With all his Father's glories on." — Watts. 

" Behold the bridegroom cometh \ go ye out to meet 
him " (Matt. xxv. 6). " For I have set my King 
upon my holy hill of Zion " (Ps. ii. 6). Therefore, 
" rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion ; shout, 0 
daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy King cometh 
unto thee I" &c. (Zech. ix. 9). 

" Behold Him." For if Sheba's queen came from 
the uttermost parts of the earth to behold Solomon's 
glory, how much more should we come forth from 
our lusts, and from the world, to contemplate His 



74 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



glory who is far "greater than Solomon!" Now 
the Church reaches the climax of its glorious history. 
The day of grace is merged into the day of glory. 
The lowly " Jesus, who was made a little lower than 
the angels for the suffering of death," is seen 
" crowned with glory and honour " (Heb. ii. 9). 
The whole company of the elect being gathered in, 
his crown, which may be said to be composed of 
sinners saved by grace, is put upon his head, in 
place of that crown of thorns with which those very 
sinners " in derision crowned him ! " 

For this is essentially the crown with which the 
Holy Spirit (as the author of the new birth in the 
souls of sinners) may be said to crown him in the 
day of his espousals. Then "he shall see of the 
travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied" (Isa. liii. 
11); it shall be "the day of the gladness of his 
heart." He shall be anointed with the oil of glad- 
ness above his fellows. He shall fully realise " the 
joy set before him," and shall " come to be glorified 
in his saints, and to be admired in all them that 
believe" (Ps. xlv. 7; Heb. xii. 1,2; 2 Thess. i. 10). 
For all shall own him as " King of kings and Lord 
of lords." 

" All hail ! the great Immanuel's name ! 
Let angels prostrate fall : 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown him Lord of all. 

" Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget 
The wormwood and the gall, 
Come — spread your trophies at his feet, 
And crown him Lord of all. 



CHAPTER III. 75 



" Let every tribe, and every tongue, 
Around this earthly ball 
Now shout in universal song, 
The crowned Lord of all ! " 



Ci And on his head were many crowns " (Rev. xix. 
12). 



CHAPTEE IT. 



Christ. 

Ter. 1. " Behold, thou art fair, my love ; behold, 
thou art fair; thou hast doves eyes within thy 
locks" 

The Lord is not weary of beholding his Church 
which he hath purchased with his own blood ; nor 
does he cease to find delight and satisfaction in her. 

" My love, through, many changes goes ; 
His love, no variation knows ! " 

" Behold, thou art fair, my love " — still u fair." 
But he is not content with the mere general asser- 
tion ; he deigns to notice the particular graces with 
which she is adorned — " Thou hast doves' eyes 
within thy locks." These are seven in number (ver. 
1-5), emphatically denoting perfection and complete- 
ness. 

This reference to the dove suggests the thought 
at once of humility, chastity, harmlessness, and sim- 
plicity. It teaches us what delight the Lord takes 
in the sincerity of his people's affections towards 



CHAPTER IV. 



77 



him. " If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall 
be full of light " (Matt. vi. 22 ; contrast Matt. v. 
28). " The lust of the eye " (1 John ii. 16). 

" Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from 
Mount Gilead" 

(Margin, " eat of" Mount Gilead.) Here the 
Church is seen as a flock, grazing on a fruitful 
mount. The mention of " a flock " intimates their 
multitude, and their feeding together their visible 
unity. Their exalted position and privileges are 
implied in their feeding on Mount Gilead, which 
was renowned for fruitfulness and for its abundant 
pasture. " I will feed you in a good pasture." 
But we are especially reminded here of the care 
that is taken of each individual member of Christ's 
flock ; " The hairs of your head are all numbered." 
Every lamb in the flock is known and numbered ; 
not one shall be found wanting. All shall " appear" 
with Christ in glory ! 

Ver. 2. " Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are 
even shorn." 

"Sheep that are even shorn" — freed from all 
natural encumbrances. " Lay aside every weight," 
&c. (Heb. xii. 1) ; like the blind man, who, when 
Jesus called him, "rose, and casting away his gar- 
ment, came to Jesus" (Mark x. 50). "If thine 
hand offend thee, cut it off; " if ensnared by riches, 
" go and sell that thou hast , " and if thou lovest 



78 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



father or mother more than Jesus, learn of the dis- 
ciples to give up all for him, even as they " straight- 
way left their nets, the ship, and their father " (Mark 
ix. 43-38; Matt. xix. 21, 22; iv. 20, 22). The 
same idea is conveyed in the figure of the vine 
(John xv.), all unfruitful branches being cut off, 
and the fruit-bearing branches being pruned, or 
" shorn." 

" Which came up from the washing." 

" A flock of sheep, which came up from the 
washing " — from the fountain open iC for sin and 
for uncleanness " — from " the washing of regenera- 
tion and renewing of the Holy Ghost " (Zech. xiii. 
1 ; Titus iii. 5). " For ye are washed, for ye are 
sanctified, for ye are justified, in the name of the 
Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God " (1 Cor. 
vi. 11). 

" These are they which came out of great tribu- 
lation, and have washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb " (Rev. vii. 14; Isa. 
i. 18; Eev. i. 5, 6). 

" A flock of sheep, which came up from the 
washing." There could not be a more beautiful 
representation of the purity of that Church for 
which the Good Shepherd laid down his life, " that 
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing 
of water by the word ; that he might present it to 
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or 
wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be 



CHAPTER IV. 



70 



holy and without blemish" (Eph. v. 26, 27). All 
defilement cleansed and washed away ! 

" Whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren 
among them." 

" Such a flock of sheep would greatly enrich their 
owner." — Durham. 

Are we not hence taught " what is the riches of 
the glory of his inheritance in the saints"? (Eph. i. 18, 
19). The Lord chooses to enrich himself through 
the abounding fruit-fulness of his people \ " being 
filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by 
Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God" 
" Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much 
fruit" (Phil. i. 11 j John xv. 8; Eph. ii. 10: 
1 Cor. xv. 58). Therefore we are exhorted to give 
all diligence to add to our faith virtue, (fee. &c, 
that we may " neither be barren nor unfruitful in the 
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Pet, i, 
5-8). 

There may probably be especial reference to the 
conversion of our fellow-sinners here intended ; that 
every one who has tasted for themselves that the 
Lord is gracious, should labour to bring others also 
into the fold, and " turn many to righteousness." 

" Then will I tell to sinners round, 
What a dear Saviour I have found." 

The Hebrew word translated " barren/' signifies 
that none of them is bereaved or robbed of its young, 
denoting the steadfastness of each member of the 



I 



£0 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON". 



Church of Christ. Not one is lost — not one want- 
ing. " None is barren among them." 

Ver. 3. " Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and 
thy speech is comely." 

The one all-absorbing theme with the lambs of 
Christ's flock is redeeming love ; their words being 
all, as it were, dyed in the blood of the Lamb of 
God — their lips " like a thread of scarlet." It was 
the subject of prophecy from the beginning (see 
Gen. iii. 15 ; Ps. xxii. ; Isa. liii. ; Zech. xiii. 7). 

It was the one grand object set forth in the 
types and sacrifices of the law (Gen. xxii ; compare 
Leviticus with Hebrews). And as it is now the one 
subject under the gospel for preaching, &c. (" We 
preach Christ crucified," &c. — 1 Cor. i. 23, &c. \ 1 
Cor. ii. 2 ; Gal. vi. 14), so shall it be throughout 
eternity the song of the redeemed in glory — 
" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain," and has 
redeemed us to God by his blood, &c. (Rev. v. 
9, 12). 

Let us then see that ours be blood-dyed speech, 
that so it may be "comely" in the ears of Jesus. 
No language can be more comely in our lips than 
that of deep self-abasement. " God be merciful to 
me a sinner." How often we have need to cry, 
" Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation 
of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, 0 Lord, 
my strength and my Redeemer " / (Ps. xix. 14.) 



CHAPTER IV. 



81 



" Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within 
thy locks." 

The pomegranate is a sweet, delicious fruit : the 
temples are the seat of thought The idea, there- 
fore, seems to be exactly that described by the 
Psalmist, " My meditation of him shall be sweet" — 
" My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and 
fatness, when I remember thee upon my bed, and 
meditate on thee in the night watches" (Ps. civ. 
34 ; Ps. lxiii. 5, 6). 

There is also implied a true modesty and " shame- 
facedness " in the term " within thy locks." There 
is no display — no uncovering of the head (1 Cor. xi. 
•5), but the reverse. And this inward adorning, 
" the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,'' is of 
great price in the eyes of Him with whom we have 
to do. 

Yer. 4. " Thy neck is like the tower of David, 
builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a 
thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men" 
David was emphatically " a man of war." It 
was his to bring the whole land into subjection for 
his son Solomon ; and it appears that, in memory 
of his achievements, he built an armoury whereon 
were hung the trophies of his mighty men of 
J valour. We read in 2 Kings xi. 10, that "King 
ij David's spears and shields were in the temple of the 
Lord." Does not this teach us, that the Christian's 
armour is being " strong in the Lord " ? " For this 



82 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



is the victory that overcometh the world, even our 
faith " — -faith being elsewhere described as the shield 
wherewith we " quench all the fiery darts of the 
wicked " (Eph. vi. 10, 16 j 1 John v. 4). 

And just as each shield and buckler preserved 
in that armoury added to the fame and renown of 
King David, so shall every soul won to Jesus, as 
fresh spoil from the enemy's ca'rnp, redound to His 
glory, when, " in the ages to come," each believer 
shall be displayed to the astonished gaze of princi- 
palities and powers, hung upon him (as upon " a nail 
in a sure place," Isa. xxii. 23, 24), a trophy of his 
victory over sin and Satan ! 

When a stronger than the strong man armed 
comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from 
him all his armour, wherein he trusted, and that very 
armour becomes a witness to the might of the great 
Captain of our salvation. 

All, all redounds to the glory of that Victor, 
through whom " we are more than conquerors " 
(Rom. viii. 37). 

Ver. 5. u Thy two breasts are like two young roes 
that are twins, which feed among the lilies.''' 

" Two young roes that are twins" seems to imply 
the idea of unity in the Church of Christ — all being 
" perfectly joined together in the same mind and in 
the same judgment, that there be no divisions" 
(1 Cor. i. 10) ; and none of the spirit of Diotrephes, 
" who loveth to have the pre-eminence " (3 John 9). 



CHAPTER IV. 



S3 



" In honour preferring one another " Yea. all of 
you be subject one to another;" and. " be kindly 
afiectioned one to another with brotherly love " — as 
twins — " endeavouring to keep the unity of the 
Spirit in the bond of peace " (Rom. xii. 10 j 1 Pet. 
v. 5 : Eph. iv. 3). 

And there is something beyond this in their 
feeding among the lilies — it expresses communion. 
For when Jesus is said (chap. ii. 16 to feed among 
the lilies, it is evidently in allusion to the commu- 
nion he enjoyed with the sheep of his pasture ; and 
so here it is that the flock enjoy communion "with 
each other and the Lord." They all eat the same 
spiritual meat, and drink the same spiritual drink, 
going to the house of God in company, feeding in 
the same " green pastures.'' and finding therein 
mutual refreshment and growth in grace. " Desire 
the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow 
thereby" (1 Cor. x. 3. 4 : Ps- xxiii. 2 ■ 1 Pet. ii. 2). 

Yer. 6. " Until the day break, and the shadows flee 
away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, 
and to the hill of frankincense" 

Exactly what the Bride had prayed for (chap. ii. 
17), Jesus here promises to her. So perfectly in 
harmony are the breathings of the same Spirit, in 
Christ and in his people ! " / will get me to the 
mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense," 
and there will I tarry, even " until the clay break, 
and the shadows flee away 1 " " Lo, I am with you 



84 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



alway, even unto the end of the world." " I will 
never, never leave thee, never, never forsake thee " 
— for such is the force of these words in the original 
(Heb. xiii. 5 ; Matt, xxviii. 20). " This is the hill 
which God desireth to dwell in ; yea. the Lord will 
dwell in it for ever" (Ps. lxviii. 16). 

Yer. 7. " Thou art all fair, my love ; there is no spot 
in thee." 

Not content with the fourfold repetition of the 
fairness of his Bride (in chap. i. 15, and iv. 1), the 
Lord adds yet further, "Thou art all fair, my love; 
there is no spot in thee !" u All fair;" for the 
beauty of the Lord our God is upon us (Psalm xc, 
17). No wonder our beauty is perfect through his 
comeliness put upon us (Ezek. xvi. 14). Our God 
no longer beholds us as clothed in our own " filthy 
rags/' but in the Son of his love. For we are no 
longer twain, but one flesh. " As he is, so are we !" 
— " all fair." 

And thus graciously does the Beloved of our 
hearts regard us. He chides us not for our short- 
comings and manifold imperfections ; but wraps us 
up, as it were, in his robe of righteousness, and then 
rests in his love, and joys over us with singing 
(Zeph. iii. 17). 

Truly, " blessed is the man unto whom the Lord 
will not impute sin." " There is no spot in thee." 

No sjDot in me ! exclaims the astonished believer ; 
and yet Job could say, " Behold, I am vile ;" and 



CHAPTER IV. 



85 



Isaiah could say, " Woe is me, for 1 ani ... a man 
of unclean lips ! " and Paul could say, " In me, that 
is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing — 0 wretched 
man that I am !" and David could say, ci I acknow- 
ledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before 
me " (Job xl. 4 ; Is. vi. 5 ; Eom. vii. ; Ps. li.) And 
even the Bride herself could say, " I am black ! " 

Peter, too, could thrice deny his Lord ; and James 
and John could desire to call down fire from heaven ; 
and of all his disciples Jesus could say, " 0 faithless 
and perverse generation." And of the Churches of 
Ephesus, Pergamos, and Thyatira he could say, " But 
I have a few things against thee ;" and of Sardis, " I 
have not found thy works perfect before God f and 
of Laodicea, "Because thou art lukewarm, and 
neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my 
mouth" (Rev. ii. and hi.) 

Are we, then, better than they 1 No, in nowise. 
For is it of our own holiness Jesus speaks, when he 
says, " There is no spot in thee " ? God forbid ! He 
speaks of his own comeliness, which he puts upon us, 
and in which he is able to present us u faultless before 
the presence of his glory" — before that excess of 
brightness in which he dwells — " holy and unblame- 
able, and unreprovabie in his sight" (Jude 24 ; 
Col. i. 22). " Complete in him " (Col. ii. 10). "A 
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 
such thing ; but holy and without blemish " (Eph. v. 
27). 

Alas ! there are few believers who are ready at 



86 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 

once to acknowledge their perfect spotlessness — but 
few who are able to see themselves once and for ever 
" perfect in Christ Jesus !" And yet, if it be His 
righteousness in which they stand, how can there 
be a spot in it ? and which of them expects to stand 
in the judgment, clad in any other ? Then, though 
they be the vilest of sinners in their own sight, if 
only they are united to Jesus by simple faith, there 
is " no spot" in them. There cannot be. Christ 
can have no diseased member in his body. He is 
the Great High Priest, whose body-covering robe 
extends from the head to the feet, without a seam, 
entirely hiding from view every trembling sinner 
whose faith has touched but the hem of his garment. 
Let us learn to hide deeper in Jesus, " hating even 
the garment spotted by the flesh," touching no un- 
clean thing, and keeping ourselves " unspotted from 
the world " (Jude 23 ; 2 Cor. vi. 17 ; James i. 
2 7). " A 11 fair— no spot ! " 

Yer. 8. " Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, 
with me from Lebanon : look from the top of 
Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from 
the lions dens, from the mountains of the leo- 
pards" 

" By these mountains here, we conceive, are under- 
stood, the most excellent, choice, and eminent satis- 
factions of earth, wherein men of the world delight : 
therefore the Bride is called to leave them to the 
men of the world, whose property they are, even as 



CHAPTER IV. 



87 



mountains are the abode and delight of wild beasts.'' 
— Durham. 

Lebanon was renowned for its beauty and surpass - 
ing excellence, though, from Hab. ii. 17, it seems 
also to have been the abode of wild beasts : and 
"Shenir and Hermon'' were the tops of two hills 
(mentioned in Deut. iii. 9 ; 1 Chron. v. 23 j Ps. 
xxix. 6, &c.) Hence the force of the figure appears 
to be, that beneath the highest elevations of earthly 
exaltation there lie concealed and hidden dangers 
ready to break forth, from whence the Lord, in 
tender love, calls his Bride away. " Come with me 
from Lebanon, <fcc. ; from the lions' dens, and from 
the mountains of the leopards." The roaring lion, 
who walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, 
wilily makes earth's most attractive regions the seat 
of his den. Christ, therefore, calls his Bride to bid 
adieu to that scene of danger, and, looking over the 
tops of all created excellencies, to set her affection 
on things above, and not on things on the earth — not 
lingering to look back on the enjoyments of the world, 
but pressing on to the things which are before ; to 
look " from " them. 

*'He calls me from the lions' den, 
From this wild world of beasts and men, 
To Zion, where His glories are : — 
Xot Lebanon is half so fair — 

"Nor dens of prey — nor flowery plains — 
Nor earthly joys — nor earthly pains — 
Shall hold my feet, or force my stay, 
When Christ invites my soul away." — Watts. 

And the invitation is most sweet — "with me" 



88 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 

" Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me 
from Lebanon." " I long to be with Jesus ! " 

Yer. 9. " Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my 
spouse ; thou hast ravished my heart with one of 
thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck." 

(Margin, " taken away,'*) "What marvellous words 
are these ! Christ " ravished by his Church ! His 
heart " taken away.'* It is a word nowhere else 
used in Scripture ; but truly this is a most wondrous 
chapter. To see the Lord so ravished with his Bride's 
beauty, and to hear such gracious words proceed out 
of his mouth, does indeed unfold to us somewhat of 
the satisfaction of the Lord Jesus when he sees of the 
travail of his soul. His heart is ravished — taken 
away ! 

And why do we refuse to be comforted by such 
precious truths % It is not pride to believe what he 
says — it is not self-exaltation : it is only glorying in 
the Lord. And who would not glory in being 
espoused to such a husband in having such a 
brother ? For he calls us his "sister," his "spouse!" 
And it is because of this union that he rejoices over 
us ; for the husband and wife being no longer twain, 
but one flesh, he sees us in himself and as a part of 
himself ! " As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the 
bride, so shall thy Cod rejoice over thee " (Isa. lxii. 
5)- 

This is the " great mystery " of this book — Christ 
and his disciples are one. And it is our actual pri- 



CHAPTER IV. 89 

vilege to share his joy — " These things have I spoken 
unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that 
your joy might be full " (John xv. 11). 

But this is not all the wonder of this verse ; it is 
not merely that Christ is ravished by his Church 
collectively, but, he says, " Thou hast ravished my 
heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy 
neck !" With each member individually ! " I dwell 
in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a 
contrite and humble spirit," <kc- — u Joy shall be in 
heaven over one sinner that repenteth " — " It was 
meet that we should make merry and be glad, for 
this my son was dead and is alive again ; he was lost 
and is found" (Isa. lvii. 15; Luke xv. 7, 24, 32). 
Yes, each returning prodigal gives joy and delight to 
Jesus. Each one who fears the Lord and thinks 
upon his name, shall be a jewel throughout eternity, 
to reflect the brilliancy of the Sun of Righteousness. 
" Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine 
eyes, with one chain of thy neck ! " — If one sheep be 
lost, the good shepherd will " go after " it until he 
find it — if one piece of silver be missing, the woman 
will sweep her house, with a lighted candle, till it is 
found ! 

Rowbotham explains it thus : — "In that he saith, 
with one eye, and one chain, observe, that where 
Christ seeth the least grace, he is much taken with 
it. It is as if he had said, ' Though I see but one 
of thine eyes, to wit, one single look of faith — or 
one chain, to wit, one spiritual discovery of myself, 



90 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



it is enough for ever to take up my heart and affec- 
tions.' " 

Ver. 10. " How fair is thy love, my sister, my 
spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! 
and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!" 

This is Christ's estimate of the love of his Church. 
No matter, then, if the lowly believer be lightly 
esteemed in the eyes of an ungodly world — " He 
seeth not as man seeth." His own love is reflected 
in the love of his Church, therefore it is " fair," and 
a better than wine." We know how the Lord Jesus 
esteemed the love of the poor woman (whose many 
sins being forgiven, made her "love much") far 
above all the good things provided at the feast of 
Simon the Pharisee ! (Luke vii. 36-50.) And thus 
he esteems also the love of his attached, though 
suffering, members on earth, far above the w T orks of 
his creation ; even as the father of a beloved family 
takes more delight in his children than in all his 
possessions. 

It is his own love reflected back upon himself; 
therefore, as his was, so is hers — " much better than 
wine." (Compare chap. i. 2, 4.) It was a sister's 
love, for " he is not ashamed to call us brethren ; " 
and it was a wife's love, for he calls himself our 
" husband " (Isa. liv. 5). " Whosoever shall do the 
will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, 
and mother " (Mark iii. 35). 

The smell of her ointments, too, was sweeter than 



CHAPTER IV. 



91 



all spices ; for it was the fragrance arising from the 
fruits of his own Spirit implanted in her. 

The secret of all the Lord's delight in his Church 
is this, that it is his own work in us — " We love him 
because he first loved us." So then " boasting is ex- 
cluded," for it is all of grace. " Christ is all and in all." 

Yer. 11. " Thy lips, 0 my spouse, drop as the honey- 
comb ; honey and milk are under thy tongue" 

" The honeycomb drops actually but sometimes ; 
but it always hangs full of honey — sweet drops ready 
to fall."— Scott. 

So " out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth 
speaketh " — " My doctrine shall drop as the rain " 
(Matt. xii. 34 ; Deut. xxxii. 2). The contrast is 
very striking between " the multitude of words " 
spoken of in Pro v. x. 19, and speech dropping only 
as the honeycomb. " He that refraineth his lips is 
wise " — " A word spoken in due season, how good is 
it!" (Prov. xv. 23.) 

But ere there can be the dropping of the honey- 
comb from our lips, there must have beeen the dili- 
gent gathering in of the honey from flower to flower, 
And this must be done by feeding on the Word of 
God for ourselves — hiding it in our hearts — eating it 
(Ps. cxix. 11 • Jer. xv. 16). Our treasures must 
first be laid up in heaven, and then our hearts and 
our conversation will be there (Matt. vi. 20, 21 ; Phil, 
iii. 20). So shall we " be ready always to give an 
answer," &c. (1 Pet. iii. 15, 16). 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



This is very beautifully represented in the figure 
of " honey and milk " being under the tongue. For 
" milk and honey " were among the chief charac- 
teristics of the fruitfulness of the land of Canaan ; 
and the Church of Christ ought to be always in the 
same well-stored condition — her lips dropping as the 
honeycomb, full of sweet drops ready to fall when- 
soever a due season offers ; and under her tongue 
" honey and milk/' words of kindness and tender- 
ness, like the " gracious words " which proceeded 
from Jesus' lips (Luke iv. 22 ; contrast Ps. lv. 21). 

" And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of 
Lebanon." 

Our very " garments " should also testify of us 
that we have been with Jesus — " All thy garments 
smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia," &c. (Ps. xlv. 
8) ; so ours should retain the scent of Lebanon — 
" His branches shall spread, and his smell be as 
Lebanon" (Hos. xiv. 5-7). 

It is like the precious ointment that ran down to 
the skirts of his garments (Ps. cxxxiii. 2). Oh! how 
we ought to hate " even the garment spotted by the 
flesh"! (Jude 23.) 

Ver. 12. " A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; 
a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." 

The main idea suggested by these words is that 
of the Church being God's own peculiar property ; 
" know that the Lord hath set apart him that is 



CHAPTER IV. 



93 



godly for himself'' (Ps. iv. 3). He hath reclaimed 
for himself, from the barren, uncultivated. " waste 
howling wilderness/' a " garden.''' a little, choice, 
fruitful, well-cared-for spot. And he hath marked 
it as his own special property, for it is " enclosed 
he hath "fenced it" (margin, -'made a wall about 
it"), and planted a hedge around it. (See Tsa v. 1, 
<fcc.) 

He is himself " the husbandman 5 ' (John xv. 1) j 
the plants are all the " trees of righteousness" of his 
own right hand planting ; and the Lord Jesus is 
"the dresser of the vineyard/' He calls it his own 
garden in chapter v. 1. " I am come into my gar- 
den, my sister, my spouse." It is a little spot 
" chosen out of the world,'' reclaimed by sovereign 
grace, and encompassed by Jehovah, even " as the 
mountains are round about Jerusalem" (Psalm cxxv. 
2). " For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall 
of fire round about, and will be the glory in the 
midst of her" Zech. ii. 5). Contrast Psalm lxxx. 
9-13 i the fence broken down! 

" A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.'' It was the 
custom in Eastern countries, for the royal well to 
have the king's seal affixed to it ; others could have 
no access to it. It is thus that we are " sealed unto 
the day of redemption" — for " the foundation of 
God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord 
knoweth them that are his" (Eph. iv. 30 ; 2 Tim. 
ii. 19). Thus he says of his Church, " I the Lord 
do keep it; I will water it every moment : lest any 



94 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



hurt it, I will keep it night and day" (Isa. xxvii. 3). 
I will set my seal upon it — it is mine. 

" Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like 
a sirring of water, whose waters fail not" (Isa. lviii. 
11; Numb. xxiv. 5, 6). " A well of water springing 
up into everlasting life" (John iv. 13, 14). How 
different the "spring" which has " the Fountain of 
living waters" for its source, from the streams which 
flow only from the creature! These are described 
by Job as the streams which " pass away," " go to 
nothing, and perish" (Job vi. 15-18). That which 
is of man perishes ; while that which is of God en- 
dures unto eternal life. The Good Shepherd leads 
his flock " beside the still waters," in his own enclosed 
garden. 

Yer. 13. " Thy plants are an orchard of pomegra- 
nates, with pleasant fruits" 

Christ now compares his Church to " an orchard." 
For it is not only a garden, filled with lovely flowers, 
but " an orchard," filled with choice fruit trees. 
Every plant in that garden is expected to bring forth 
" fruit." " He looked that it should bring forth 
grapes" (Isa. v. 2). For " herein is my Father glo- 
rified, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my 
disciples" — " Filled with the fruits of righteousness, 
which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise 
of God" (John xv. 8 ; Phil. i. 11). 

They are " pleasant fruits," because they are the 
fruits of the Spirit — and " for his pleasure they are 



CHAPTER IV. 



95 



and were created ; " " the planting of the Lord, that 
he might be glorified" 

Alas ! that there should ever be barren fig-trees 
found in the Lord's garden, branches in Christ that 
do not bear fruit ! (John xv. 2) ; " Every branch 
that beareth not fruit in me." — Romaine. But 
what a precious truth, that Jesus will intercede for 
trees that have stood barren for " three years ! " and 
will purge and prune them, " that they may bring 
forth more fruit!" Sooner or later, the Lord's 
people will become fruit-bearing branches ; for each 
one is " an orchard," and in each one " pomegranates 
with pleasant fruits" must be found. 

Nor is it one kind of fruit only, but many ; 
" pomegranates with pleasant fruits," namely — 

Ver. 13 ; 14. " Camphire, with spikenard; spikenard 
and saffron ; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees 
of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the 
chief spices" 

See what the Lord finds, and expects to find, in 
his Church ! What diversity of plants ! and what 
choice fruits ! The fruits of the Spirit are manifold 
— " love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, good- 
ness," &c. (Gal. v. 22, 23). 

The Lord looks for all these in his Church, and 
in each member of it. He would have us abound 
in " every grace." " As ye abound in every thing, 
in faith, and utterance, and knowledge," (fee, " see 
that ye abound in this grace also" (2 Cor. viii. 7). 



96 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



If but one be wanting, the Lord takes notice of it. 
For " God is able to make all grace abound toward 
you ; that ye, always having all-sufficiency in all 
things, may abound to every good work" (2 Cor. 
ix. 8-10). There is grace to enable us to abound in 
all; wherefore, then, are we so stunted, so meagre, 
so sparing 1 ? " Ye are straitened in your own bowels," 
says the apostle. " Ye have not, because ye ask not " 
See how St Paul prayed for his Colossian converts — 
" That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all 
pleasing, being fruitful in every good work : strength- 
ened with all might . . . unto all patience and long- 
suffering with joyfulness" (Col. i. 9-11). 

" Thou art coming to a King ; 
Large petitions with thee bring ; 
For his grace and power are such, 
None can ever ask too much." 

Should we not learn hence to make larger 
demands upon God's treasury of grace, lest, when 
he comes to reckon with us, he should find his 
talents laid by in a napkin, and hid in the earth ; 
and lest the seed which he has sown in our hearts 
should lie dormant there, and no " pleasant fruits " 
have been borne by us % 

Oh ! to " bring forth more fruit ! " — " fruit a 
hundredfold'" — " fruit unto holiness" ! (Rom. vi. 22.) 

But these " pleasant fruits " may be regarded 
in another point of view. The Lord, in looking 
down upon his garden, and inspecting his vineyard, 
does not expect all his plants to be alike. In one 
he sees a pomegranate ; in another, camphire ; in 



CHAPTER IV. 



97 



another ; spikenard, &c. And these several plants 
are of totally different characters. Thus frank- 
incense, myrrh, and aloes, are said to grow very 
tall, while spikenard and saffron only just grow 
above the ground. So, amongst believers, there 
are "differences of administration, diversities of 
operations." One is suited for one place in the 
vineyard, another for another place ; but the Lord 
owns and accepts each ; they are all his " pleasant 
fruits for it is the same God which worketh all 
in all (1 Cor. xii. 4-6). 

Ver. 15. " A fountain of gardens, a well of living 
waters, and streams from Lebanon" 

This verse has been differently rendered by com- 
mentators; some making it applicable to the 
Church, and others to the Lord himself. Thus, Fry 
renders it, " The fountain of thy gardens is a well 
of living waters, and streams flowing from Lebanon." 
If this be correct, we have the words of Christ to 
teach us, that "the well of living waters" is the 
Holy Spirit, flowing from himself, for the quicken- 
ing and refreshing of his garden— the Church. 
u The water that I shall give shall be in him a well 
of water, springing up into everlasting life." " He 
that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow 
rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the 
Spirit, which they that believe on him should 
receive)" (John iv. 13, 14, and vii. 38, 39). For 
He is the Source, the secret spring of life — the 



98 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



conductor of the streams of living water, from the 
Fountain of living waters, into the garden of Christ. 
" It is the Spirit that quickenetk." A garden that 
lacks moisture is soon dried up and languishing, 
Irs fruitfulness is vitally connected with its being- 
well watered (see Amos iv. 7). And. therefore, in 
the garden which the Lord God planted. " a river 
went out of Eden, to water the garden " (Gen. ii. 
8, 10). Hence, also, we find the Psalmist describing 
his soul as thirsting after God. like li a dry and 
thirsty land where no water is " Ps. lxiii. 1 ; see also 
Ps. xlii. 1). But the fountain of this garden "is 
a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon " 
— at once springing up out of the believing soul, 
and flowing down from above, as it were from the 
heights of Lebanon (James i. 17). 

Thus it seems most in accordance with the spirit 
of the passage, to take these words, like the rest, 
as spoken by Christ to his Bride, She is a garden 
inclosed, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed/' and 
u an orchard" of pleasant fruit trees : but she is all 
this of herself, independently of what she is to 
others. It is therefore added, that she is ;; a 
fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and 
streams from Lebanon : ; * for it is in watering others 
that she is herself to be watered (Prov. xi. 25). 
In direct opposition to the fountain spoken of by 
Jeremiah (chap. vi. 7. " as a fountain casteth out 
her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness"), 
fche is to be a fountain, reflecting the image of the 



CHAPTER IV. 



99 



Fountain of Living Waters" — a means of life to 
others. She is to be a well of living water ; not a 
shallow stream, but filled with the Spirit of life, 
whose work does not rest on the surface, but pene- 
trates into the innermost depths and recesses of the 
soul — a standing well, and not a little rivulet that 
may often be found dried up. And she is yet 
further to be as " streams from Lebanon," ever 
flowing forth to water all around, comforting others 
with the comfort wherewith she has been comforted 
of God ; and gushing forth in clear and invigorating 
streams, received fresh from the heights of heaven, 
to quicken and reanimate such as are slumbering 
and faint. 

Oh ! to drink deeply and freely of the fountain 
of the water of life ! — with joy to draw water from 
the wells of salvation ! (Eev. xxi. 6 ; Isa. xii. 3.) 

" Dear Fountain of delight unknown ! 
Giver of life and joy supreme ! 
Ever o'erflow, and pour me down 
A living and life-giving stream." — Cowper. 

Ver. 16. "Awake, 0 north wind; and come, thou 
south; blow upon my garden, that the spices 
thereof may flow out." 
The Lord Jesus has now surveyed with delight 
his garden — his spiritual Eden. He has inspected 
his orchard, and noticed his lovely plants and 
pleasant fruits. He has examined them particularly 
— not one is overlooked. He found them very 
choice — " chief spices," &c. But yet they do not 



100 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



yield him all the fragrance they might. There 
seems to be a stillness pervading the garden, so 
that the spices thereof do not "flow out." He, 
therefore, calls for the fresh outponring of his Spirit 
npon it — ''Awake, 0 north wind; and come, thou 
south ■ blow upon my garden." "The wind blow- 
eth where it listeth," &c, " so is every one that is 
born of the Spirit." The words, spirit, breath, life, 
and wind, are all used in Scripture in reference to 
the Holy Ghost ; for " it is the Spirit that quieken- 
eth" (John vi. 63). "Come from the four winds, 
0 breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they 
may live" (Ezek. xxxvii. 9). " Awake, 0 north wind," 
with thy piercing blasts, arousing, quickening, and 
convincing of sin; "and come, thou south" with 
thy gentle, soothing influences, to breathe comfort, 
and peace, and heavenly consolations into the soul. 

Thus the Lord, in omniscient love, adapts these 
different experiences to the requirements of the 
various plants. At the right moment, he bids 
the north wind " awake? and the south wind to 
" come." He knows exactly what each member 
can bear — the requisite pruning for each branch — 
the look which will soften a Peter's heart — the 
reproof that will convince the unbelieving Thomas 
—the sympathy which will bind up the bleeding 
hearts of the bereaved sisters of Bethany, to. &c. 
And all is administered by the Spirit. " All these 
worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing 
to every man severally as he will" (1 Cor. xii. 11). 



CHAPTER IV. 



101 



Where he works, too ; he works effectually; the 
spices will flow out, the odour of a sweet smell. 

" Blow upon my garden." The words are the 
words of Jesus, for the garden is his alone. " My 
garden " — I have purchased it with mine own 
blood j it is mine : therefore I will send forth from 
my Father " the Spirit of life," that he may 
breathe upon it. " The Spirit of God moved (Heb., 
'breathed') upon the face of the waters 5 ' (Gen, 
i. 2). "Blow upon my garden, that the spices 
thereof may flow out." 

0:s Chapter iv. 12-15. 

" We are a garden wall'd around, 
Chosen and made peculiar ground ; 
A little spot inclosed by grace, 
Out of the world's wide wilderness. 

••' Like trees of myrrh and spice we stand, 
Planted by God the Fathers hand ; 
And all his springs in Zion flow, 
To make the young plantation grow. 

" Awake, 0 heavenly Wind ! and come, 
Blow on this garden of perfume ; 
Spirit Divine ! descend and breathe 
A gracious gale on plants beneath." — Watts. 



The Bride. 

" Let my leloved come into his garden, and eat his 
pleasant fruits" 

There are seasons, when the soul is under the 
special culture of the Spirit, that call forth such 
language as this from the children of God. They are 
so sensible that the garden is Christ's— not theirs 



102 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



— and that the fruits are the fruits of his own Spirit 
in them, and nothing of their own, that they can in 
all humility invite the Lord of heaven and earth, 
the King of kings, the Lord of lords, yea, they can 
invite him as the beloved of their souls, to come in 
and sup with them, and make his abode with them, 
" and eat his pleasant fruits." 

They do not deny that the fruits of grace in their 
souls are " pleasant ; " they do not question their 
worthiness to receive such a guest ; but, in the 
intense longings of their souls after closer com- 
munion with him, they gladly invite him to come 
in : " Let my beloved come into his garden." It is a 
false, untrue humility, to deny the great things 
which God hath wrought in us. Thus we read 
that St Paul " declared particularly what things God 
had wrought by his ministry" (Acts xxi. 19); and 
in writing to Philemon (ver. 6), he says, " that the 
communication of thy faith may become effectual 
by the acknowledging of every good thing which is 
in you in Christ Jesus." (See also Ps. Ixvi. 16 ; 
1 Cor. xv. 10.) 

It only becomes us most carefully to see that 
we call the garden " his, 11 and the fruits " his" dis- 
claiming anything like merit or aught that is good 
in ourselves — " in me dwelleth no good thing." 
" Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his 
pleasant fruits." They are his; let him have all 
the glory; let him accept and use them, and be 
glorified and satisfied in them. (See John xv. 8.) 



CHAPTER IV. 



103 



" The fruits of righteousness are hj Jesus Christ ' r 
(Phil. i. 11). The good things are wrought by 
" God" (Acts xxi. 19), and every good thing which 
is in us is so "in Christ Jesus'" (Philemon 6). No 
works of ours could be pleasant to the Lord, for 
the best are tainted with sin, and he can " eat 11 
nothing that is unclean. 

" But the greatest delight that Christ hath in the 
world, is in the garden of his Church ; therefore, 
that he might take full delight therein, he makes 
it fruitful, stored with precious fruits, growing from 
plants set by his own hand, relished of his own 
Spirit, and so fitted to his taste. v — Eowbotham. 

And to prove how acceptable the prayer of his 
Bride was, he answers it by immediately acceding 
to her request. 



CHAPTER V. 



Christ's Answer. 

Ver. 1. "I. am come into my garden, my sister, my 
spouse ; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice ; 
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey ; I have 
drunk my wine with my milk? 

Already " I am come ! " A God at hand, with 
his ears always attent unto the prayers - of his 
people. 

There is something very striking in the oneness 
of sentiment and even language pervading this 
book, sweetly telling that " we have the mind of 
Christ" (1 Cor. ii. 16). Thus the Bride had called 
him her "Beloved" (chap. iv. 16); now he calls 
her " my sister, my spouse." She called it " his 
garden," and he owns it as such — " I am come into 
my garden." She invited him to " eat his pleasant 
fruits," and he says, " I have eaten," &c. He also, 
most emphatically, calls them all his own : " I have 
gathered my myrrh with my spice ; I have eaten my 
honeycomb with my honey ; I have drunk my wine 



CHAPTER V. 



105 



with my milk." We have nothing of our own; all 
we have and are is the Lord's (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20), 
" What hast thou that thou didst not receive ? " 
(1 Cor. iv. 7.) 

We see, too, how ready Jesus is to accept what 
each has to offer. From one plant he gathers 
" myrrh " — fitly representing, by its bitterness, the 
tears of godly sorrow shed by the repenting sinner, 
when convinced of sin by the piercing blasts of the 
" north wind." 

From another he gathers " honey," and the 
honeycomb — intimating, from its sweetness, the 
manifestation of the mild and gentle graces of the 
Spirit, called into exercise by the blowing of the 
" south " wind. 

From another he gathers " spice ; " from the 
young Christian, "milk;" and from the aged and 
matured believer, "wine;" for milk belongs to the 
babe in Christ, but strong meat to them that are of 
full age (Heb. v. 13, 14). All are alike accepted 
of Jesus, the bitter and the sweet, the young and 
the old ; and, yet more, all are sources of delight 
and enjoyment to him. He actually feeds upon the 
graces of the Spirit in the hearts of his people, for 
he says, " I have eaten ! I have drunk ! " How 
feebly we realise this wonderful truth ! 

But our Beloved not only feasts thereon him- 
self, but even calls us to feast with him, and to be 
sharers of his joy. 



106 



THE SONG OF SOLOMOX. 



" Eat, 0 friends ; drink, yea, drink abundantly, 0 
beloved." 

"Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul 
delight itself in fatness " — " Except ye eat the flesh 
of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no 
life in you. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my 
blood is drink indeed" (Isa. lv. 1, 2; John vi. 
53-57). " Eat, 0 friends." Christ would have 
believers partake of the soul-refreshing blessings 
of his purchase. " Whosoever will, let him take 
the water of life freely." " They drank of that 
spiritual Eock that followed them, and that Eock 
was Christ" (Eev. xxii. 17 ; 1 Cor. x. 4). "Drink 
abundantly" or, as it is in the margin, " be drunken 
with loves ; " " be filled with the Spirit, and not 
with wine," says the apostle (Eph. v. 18). There 
is no danger of excess in this spiritual feast ; we 
cannot spiritually eat too much of the flesh, nor 
drink too much of the blood, of the Lord Jesus. 
" Eat. yea, drink abundantly" 

This involves the inexhaustible nature of the 
provision made for us. All may eat, and all may 
drink, and yet there shall be " enough and to 
spare." 

There is also comfort in the expression "friends" 
" I have not called you servants, but friends " (John 
xv. 1-5). It bespeaks an intimacy between Christ 
and his people, of no ordinary kind. They " sup " 
together (Eev. iii. 20). As in the peace-offering of 
old, God, the offerer, and the priests, were all fed 



CHAPTER V. 



107 



by it, so in Jesus, our peace-offering (Eph. ii. 14), 
the Father, the Son, and his friends all partake. 
This is communion — " Truly our fellowship is with 
the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ " (1 John 
i.3). 

ft thrice liappy he, who liere partakes 
That sacred stream, that heavenly food." — Doddridge. 

Chapter v. 1 seems more properly to belong to 
the 4th chapter, as it follows in immediate connec- 
tion with the verse preceding it, and forms a beau- 
tiful conclusion to the words of Christ to his Bride ; 
for that chapter is throughout the expression of 
the complacent love of Jesus towards her : it em- 
phatically describes the summer season of the soul's 
experience, and in this verse she is called to share 
in his joy. 

But here this happy, blessed season closes. We 
know no uninterrupted communion yet. By reason 
of the frailty of our nature, we cannot always stand 
upright ; and one chief part of our discipline consists 
in " the trial of our faith" It must be sifted, to 
prove its reality ; and it frequently happens that the 
great enemy of souls makes his most successful 
attempts upon us immediately after seasons of 
peculiar enjoyment. It was thus with the Bride on 
this occasion. 

Yer. 2. "7 sleep, hut my heart wakethp 

Very, very humbling is it to meet with repeated 
instances of declension in every believer's walk ; 



108 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



yet so it is. The Bride is here just like the 
disciples, who, the very night in which they had 
partaken of the Lord's Supper, and when they so 
especially ought to have been watching, were asleep 
(Matt. xxvi. 40, 43). 

" I sleep, but my heart waketh." Asleep — in a 
state of stupor, inactivity, and insecurity. No gird- 
ing on of the Christian armour — no fighting the 
good fight of faith — no " watching unto prayer " — » 
neither hot nor cold, but in a state of lukewarmness 
like that of the Laodicean Church (Rev. iii.) Still 
it is " sleep," not death ; for the believer in Jesus 
cannot die. Though dead to all sense of life, he still 
lives, for Christ lives in him. 

" I sleep, hut my heart waketh." That " but'' 
is a precious indication of life ; it implies restless 
sleep — " But my heart waketh." There is also the 
distinct recognition, in these words, of the Christian 
conflict between the flesh and the spirit ; the one 
warring against the other. The flesh asleep, the 
spirit wakeful — " / sleep, but my heart waketh." 
(Compare Rom. vii. and Gal. v.) 

"The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is 
weak." 

"As natural sleep proceedeth from weariness of 
the body, so spiritual sleep ariseth from too much 
expense of the strength of the soul upon matters of 
the world." — Rowbotham. 

" It is the voice of my beloved that hnocheth, saying, 



CHAPTER V. 



109 



Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my un- 
defilecir 

This restlessness was not the result of any effort 
of the Church ; believers cannot rouse themselves 
when they fall asleep, any more than sinners can 
give life to their dead souls. It was the knock of 
Christ that woke the sleeping Bride. " It is the 
voice of my beloved that knocketh." He neither 
slumbers nor sleeps. He is watching his sleeping 
children when drowsiness comes over their souls, 
as truly as he watches over their dust when it is 
laid in their graves until the morning of the resur- 
rection. Like Hagar in the wilderness, we have 
still one who looks after us (Gen. xvi. 7-14). " Be- 
hold, I stand at the door and knock," was his tender 
language to the sleeping Church of Laodicea. 
" Awake, thou that sleepest " (Eph. v. 14) — " What 
meanest thou, 0 sleeper I arise, call upon thy God " 
(Jonah i. 6). When the disciples were sleeping in 
the garden, Jesus did not sleep • nay, it was for 
them he sweat those great drops of blood. And twice 
he goeth to them, and yet a third time, and finds 
them sleeping, and then he knocks, and says, " Bise, 
let us be going" (Matt. xxvi. 36, &c.) 

" It is the voice of my beloved " — the voice that 
shall one day be heard by all that are in their graves 
(John v. 28, 29) ; and oh ! what will it not then be 
to us to be able to call him "my beloved!" The 
Bride heard and recognised his voice, and all the 
tender words he spake to her : u It is the voice 



110 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



of raj beloved that knocketk, saying, Open to me, 
my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled." 

And is it thus that Jesns speaks to a soul in such 
a state as this 1 Is he not angry and displeased with 
her ? Will he not sharply rebuke and reprove her 1 
Can he address her still as his sister, his un defiled 1 
Then surely nothing can so plainly prove to the 
believer, that, let his own feelings be what they may, 
the love of Jesus towards him never for one moment 
changes, even in seasons of deepest backsliding. Still 
he owns his people in their covenant relationship. 
Oh ! the precious comfort of such expressions at 
such a moment! — "My sister, my love, my dove, 
my undefiled." 

"Open to me" — "to me." Shut not the door 
against me — " I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest." 
Remember against whom thou art kicking — "Me," 
thy brother, thy friend, thy beloved I " Is this thy 
kindness to thy friend % " 

" For my head is filled with dew, and my locks with 
the drops of the night" 

What an argument ! — " Open to me, for my head 
is filled with dew." Will not such a recollection 
move thee ? Canst thou recall my sufferings for 
thee unmoved? Think of that night, that dreadful 
night, when my sweat was as it were great drops of 
blood, through the intensity of my sufferings for 
thee ! No storm on the darkest night could picture 
the agony that found vent in that bitter cry, wrung 



CHAPTER V. 



Ill 



from sinking humanity, " My God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me ? " The outward darkness 
that overspread the earth for three hours gave but 
the faintest representation of the dark season of in- 
ward desertion which accompanied it ; "I cry in the 
night season, but thou nearest not " (Ps. xxii. 1, 2). 
" My head is filled with dew, and my locks with the 
drops of the night" — those pelting "drops" of the 
Father's fury and wrath, which burst upon his head 
when he stood accursed as the sinner's substitute. 
Can we withstand such love ? Can' we resist that 
voice? Can we suffer Jesus to be standing without, 
and not rise and open to him i 

" Lo ! Gethsemane in night ! 

Vengeance there with iron rod, 
Stood, and with collected might, 

Bruised the harmless Lamb of God : 
See, my soul, the Saviour see, 
Suffering in Gethsemane ! 

^ " View thy Maker's deep distress, 

Hear the sighs and groans of God," &c. — Hart. 

It is His voice that speaks, and speaks to thee ; he 
who " endured the cross, despising the shame," whose 
head was crowned with thorns — He says, " Open to 
me." 

Ver. 3. " I have put off my coat ; how shall I put it 
on f I have washed my feet ; how shall I defile 
them I " 

Alas ! that Jesus should ever get such a return for 
such love ! Instead of opening at once to her Beloved, 



112 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



the Bride only gives way to indolent excuses. She 
is not yet half aroused from her lethargy — u I have 
put off my coat ; how shall I put it on ? I have 
washed my feet ; how shall I defile them ? " The 
Christian armour is laid aside, and now she shrinks 
from the conflict ; her feet are washed (referring to 
the custom in Eastern countries of washiog the feet 
before lying down to rest, as, from wearing no shoes, 
they became soiled at every step), how shall she 
again expose herself to the defilements of the way f 
How often a child of God, who has fallen into de- 
clension, hears warnings and invitations unheeded ! 
" I cannot pray now ; God will not hear me. I 
have no desires after Him ; I shrink from the con- 
flict as men 6 averse from war ' (Mic. ii. 8) ; I 
cannot put on those garments which I have laid 
aside," &c. 

It is the language of despair, as well as of indo- 
lence— " How can If" (Deut. vii. 17-19.) But it is 
sometimes well when the child of God is brought to 
this ; for truly we are not sufficient of ourselves to 
think anything as of ourselves. And when we feel 
our utter inability, God often manifests his power. 

Ver. 4. " My beloved put in his hand by the hole of 
the door, and my bowels were moved for him? 

When we will not hear the voice which speaks, it 
sometimes pleases God to lay his hand upon us. 
"Thy hand presseth me sore" (Ps. xxxviii. 2) — even 
that right hand which is glorious in power (Ex. xv. 



CHAPTER V. 



113 



6 V ; . For he does not easily give us up (see Hos. xi. 
7, 8) ; and though the door be shut, and we refuse 
to rise and open it, there is still a way of entrance 
left to Him who knows " the secrets of the heart " (Ps. 
xliv. 21). " My beloved put in his hand by the hole 
of the door." In many unexpected ways he finds 
access to the believer s heart. It was so with Peter, 
who heeded it not though Jesus told him that ere 
the cock crew he would deny him thrice • but so 
soon as f; the Lord turned and looked upon him," at 
once his bowels were moved, " and he went out and 
wept bitterly " (Luke xxii. 61, 62). Jesus had, as it 
were, knocked in vain, but now " he put in his hand 
by the hole of the door,'' and thus let himself in ! 

Yer. 5. " I rose up to open to my beloved; and my 
hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with 
sweet-smellmg myrrh, upon the handles of the lock." 

Such are the blessed effects of the dealings of the 
Lord Jesus with the soul — " I rose wp? For that ye 
sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it 
wrought in you : yea, what clearing of yourselves : 
yea, what zeal ; yea, what vehement desire, &c. (2 
Cor. vii. 11.) And, oh ! what bitter, bitter tears 
the child of God will shed over the hindrances which 
have locked out Jesus from his heart ! — tears of peni- 
tence and deep contrition for his sins, mingled with 
tears of gratitude to him whose hand unlocked that 
closed door. " My hands dropped with myrrh, and 
my fingers with sweet-smelling myrrh.'' Even the 

H 



114 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



bitterness is sweet. The child of God knows more 
of true happiness in seeking Jesus with many tears, 
than in idly keeping at a distance from him. Mary 
is a striking instance of this. Her •'■ many sins,*' 
instead of keeping her away from him, brought her 
nigh to bathe his feet with her tears. And those tears 
were sweet to Jesus (see Luke vii. 44—47). 

The sins, "the handles of the lock/' that close the 
door against the Beloved of our souls, will be bitterly 
repented of. But that repentance is a grace of the 
Spirit that comes up with acceptance to Jesus from 
his garden, with the odour of a sweet smell. " Sweet- 
smelling myrrh." 

Ver. 6. te I opened to my beloved : but my beloved, had 
withdrawn himself, and was gone? 

Such experience is peculiar to true believers. 
For whilst the Lord withdraws the sense of his pre- 
sence from the indolent and slothful child, he never 
deals so with a soul that is but seeking after him at 
the first stage of the divine life. Such an one would 
be thereby driven to despair, while the former is but 
stirred up to more diligent search. He knows the 
exact measure of faith in his people, and the degree 
of trial which that faith requires ; therefore he will 
not suffer any one to be tempted (or tried) above 
what they are able to bear. The Bride had reluctantly 
opened to her Beloved, but not till he had been com- 
pelled to lay his hand upon her, because she heeded 
not his voice. She must, therefore, learn that it is 



CHAPTER V. 



115 



an evil and a bitter thing to requite him thus (Jer. 
ii. 19) ; and he will not at once grant her the former 
experience she had enjoyed in the realising sense of 
his presence : a My beloved had withdrawn himself, 
and was gone." 

Still, the sense of his absence proved that she had 
already known the sweetness of his presence ; she 
was no stranger to him. She was now deprived of 
what she had before enjoyed, and being thoroughly 
awake, she feels what she had lost while she slept. 

It is deeply painful to realise, through returning 
consciousness after sleep in spiritual things, what a 
loss we have sustained. Our sensible enjoyment of 
the presence of Jesus is " gone? — " my beloved had 
withdrawn himself, and was gone ; " that is, the sen- 
sible manifestation of himself, for if he had really 
left her, she certainly would have had no desire after 
him. But to quicken us, and arouse us from our 
lethargy and indifference, he lets us feel what it is 
to be without a felt sense of his presence. And every 
child of God who knows what this exj)erience is. can 
testify, that a sense of the absence of one so dear is 
more than they can bear, especially if it be from 
their own repeated provocations (Jer. ii. 17). They 
know no rest until they find him. 

"My soul failed when he spake" 

w My soul failed'' This is a very strong word, 
being the same that is elsewhere rendered "their 
heart icent forth" (Gen. xlii. 28, margin), intimat- 



116 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



ing the most intense dismay and anguish. And 
thus it fitly expresses that deep, poignant sorrow 
experienced by the soul until the cloud is passed 
which hides the light of God's countenance : " My 
soul failed when he spake." She hears his voice (or, 
as the Hebrew may be rendered, calls his neglected 
words to remembrance), but she cannot realise his 
presence with her. Nothing else can satisfy her, 
and yet she has not that. " 0 that I were as in 
months past," is her language, " as in the days when 
God preserved me, when his candle shined upon my 
head ! " (Job xxix. 2, 3.) " Hear me speedily, 0 Lord, 
my spirit faileth ; hide not thy face from me " — " I 
had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness 
of the Lord," &c. (Ps. cxliii. 7 ; xxvii. 13.) 

It argues strong faith in the Bride, that she should 
still be seeking after Christ, though in such utter 
want of enjoyment ; and he deals with her accord- 
ingly. " The strong he'll strongly try." 

" I sought him, but I could not find him ; I called 
him, but he gave me no answer " 

So also Job says, " 0 that I knew where I might 
find him ! Behold, I go forward, but he is not there ; 
and backward, but I cannot perceive him," &c. (Job 
xxiii. 3-9 ; see also Job xxxiv. 29). But the true 
believer still goes on seeking, though the heavens seem 
as brass, and though his bitter cry is, " Thou hast 
covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should 
not pass through " also when I cry and shout, he 



CHAPTER V. 



117 



shutteth out my prayer " (Lament, iii. 8, 44) — " I 
called him, but he gave me no answer " — " I cry 
unto thee, and thou dost not hear me " (Job xxx. 
20). 

It was thus also with the poor woman of Canaan, 
who came to Jesus earnestly entreating him to heal 
her daughter — " but he answered her not a word I 
(see Matt. xv. 22, 23.) "I called him, but he gave 
me no answer." 

And wherefore did he deal so with her % " For 
the trial of her faith," doubtless ; for it is thus the 
Lord suits his dealing to the peculiar requirements 
of his people. Their trials are divinely adapted 
trials, and there is grace divinely adapted to their 
need in their trials. It was the strong faith in the 
Bride and in the Canaanitish woman, which justified 
(so to speak) this severe trial of it. They were 
"able to bear" it. And the contrast in the case of 
the poor woman who " came behind him trembling," 
fully confirms this. The strong faith is exercised 
with long delay, while the weak, trembling faith re- 
ceives a word of immediate comfort. (See Luke viii. 
44, 47, 48). Let us therefore learn to " trust him 
where we cannot trace." 

But we should learn also, as has been beautifully 
remarked, " that, while there is forgiveness with the 
Lord, it should be esteemed by us no light thing to 
be drawing on that forgiveness. For, while it is 
true that 6 forgive us our trespasses ' may be said by 
the children of God in spirit continually, knowing as 



118 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



they must in how many things they all offend, it is 
still a serious thing to be drawing on the pardoning 
grace of God. The Book of Judges illustrates this, 
shewing a growing reserve on the part of God towards 
His people. As they repeat their demands on his 
grace, He holds himself more and more distant from 
them." 

The experience of the Bride is precisely similar. 
Compare chap. iii. 1, -1, where the search was com- 
paratively easy (as she was so much more ready to 
commence it), with chap. v. 2-8, where her re- 
luctance to rise and open to her Beloved caused 
such delay in her finding him. "I sought him, 
but I could not find him ; I called him, but he 
gave me no answer." 

Believer, if at any time while thou art engaged 
in earnestly calling upon God, he answers thee u not 
a word," mark what that delay says to thee — 
" Great is thy faith /" 

Yer. 7. " The watchmen that went about the city 
found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the 
keepers of the walls took away my vail from me* 

It appears that during the Bride's search for her 
Beloved she met with reproach and severe treat- 
ment from the ministers of the Lord. For they are 
the watchmen ; " they watch for your souls as they 
that must give account " (Heb. xiii. 17). The word 
of the Lord in their mouths seems to have been like 
a sharp " two-edged sword, piercing even to the divid- 



CHAPTER V. 



119 



ing asunder of soul and spirit," &c, and u like a 
hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces" (Heb. 
iv. 12 ; Jer. xxiii. 29). " They smote me ; they 
wounded me." The word came home with such 
convincing power, that it wounded her to the quick. 
It was sharp reproof, for the watchmen prophesied 
not "smooth things," but stripped her of all the 
filthy rags of her own righteousness, and disclosed 
her sad condition. It was very painful, and very 
humbling, but it worked for " good " in the end. 
" Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness ; 
and let him reprove me, it shall be an excellent oil 
which shall not break my head" (Ps. cxli. 5). 

Ver. 8. " / charge you, 0 daughters of Jerusalem, 
if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am 
sick of love" (Greek, " wounded with love"). 

The Bride gets more and more earnest. She can 
no longer keep her anxiety to herself ; she must 
speak of it to every one she meets ; she must ask 
their prayers (for it is evidently prayer that is 
meant by the expression " tell him "). Speak to my 
Beloved for me : tell him my sad case. " I beseech 
you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and 
for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together 
with me, in your prayers to God for me " (Rom xv. 
30). " For I know that this shall turn to my 
salvation through your prayer" &c. — " Pray one for 
another" (Phil i. 19 ; James v. 16). 

The Bride could not speak confidently as to the 



120 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



successful use of means iu this case : it is only. if 
ye find him." Still she would leave no means un- 
tried : and her earnestness betrayed such sincerity 
of love, and such utter dissatisfaction with every- 
thing short of Christ, that even her soul sickness 
testified to the daughters of Jerusalem what a 
powerful reality there is in true vital godliness, 
They at once inquire — 

Yer. 9. " What is thy beloved more than another 
beloved. 0 thou fairest among women f What is 
thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou 
dost so charge us?" 

Their question plainly proved their ignorance of 
Jesus, for they saw " no beauty in him that trey 
should desire him.'" The veil was still upon their 
hearts : the god of this world still blinded their 
eyes. But it was well that they were brought to 
inquire after him. " What is thy beloved more 
than another beloved that thou dost go charge us 
What is the peculiar superiority in the object of 
your affections above ours ! Alas ! how many idols, 
how many other beloveds are there, that take God's 
place in the soul ! — love of the world and the things 
that are therein — love of the creature more than the 
Creator. &c. &c. "Strange gods" — other beloveds I 
But when Christ is truly known, he is tt among the 
sons " as the apple-tree among the wild trees of the 
wood (chap. ii. 3). The Bride had expressly appro- 
priated him to herself — "if ye find my beloved 



CHAPTER V. 



121 



and they at once acknowledge him to have been 
hers in a sense in which they knew him not. 
" What is thy beloved more than another beloyed V' 
They seem to have been especially struck with two 
things : first, the Bride's own beauty 3 and, secondly, 
her deep earnestness. Her renown had gone forth 
for her beauty (Ezek. xvi. 14). The holiness 
which is (or should be) stamped upon every mem- 
ber of the Church of Christ, was visible in her. 
For they called her the " fairest among women." 
How strange that they should so clearly discover 
the beauty of Jesus in her, and yet not know Mm 
(from whom all her beauty came) as i; fairer than 
the children of men " ! (Ps. xlv. 2.) 

But, secondly, the charge the Bride had given 
them, and her manner of giving it. had impressed 
these professors. " What is thy beloved more than 
another beloved, that thou dost so charge us 1 " — so 
earnestly — so vehemently ! Surely there must be 
something here that we don't understand — some- 
thing more than we know ! 

Oh ! what encouragement this affords to poor, 
tried, disconsolate believers, who are walking in 
darkness, and have no light ! Jesus can make their 
diligent search for him, in such seasons, as great a 
means of leading others to inquire after him, as 
their happiest moments of privileged communion. 
Sometimes, it may be, when we are least aware of 
it, we may be most used by the Lord to accomplish 
his great work. Our very dissatisfaction with 



122 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



everything short of Christ, may be the very means 
chosen to make others see a worth and inestimable 
value in him, of which those who are content with 
lesser beloveds know nothing. Truly, 

" God moves in a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform ! " 

The double repetition of the inquiry made by 
the daughters of Jerusalem was indicative of a real 
desire on their parts to know something more of 
Jesus ; and it becomes the Christian to " be ready 
always to give an answer to every man that asketh 
a reason of the hope that is in him." This the Bride 
was. For she immediately bursts forth into a holy 
strain of glorying in the Lord — boasting of his 
exceeding excellency, and the superiority of his 
person far above all others. 

Ver. 10. "My beloved is white and ruddy 

There is a beauty in him such as can be found 
in none besides. He is " white and ruddy or, as 
Fry renders it, " fair and blooming." He is always 
so : there is, as it were, the blooming immortality 
of an eternal spring in Jesus — " the same, yesterday, 
to-day, and for ever." 

It is recorded of David, as a youth, that he 
was " ruddy and of a fair countenance " (1 Sam. 
xvii. 42) ; and how much more so the true David 
— the true Beloved ! (The word David means be- 
loved.) " My beloved is white and ruddy " — white, 
as " the lily of the valley " — ruddy, as " the rose of 



CHAPTER V. 



123 



Sharon." " White? for he is the Lamb " without 
blemish and without spot" — "holy, harmless, un- 
dented, and separate from sinners" (1 Pet. i. 18, 19 ; 
Exod. xii. 5 ; Heb. vii. 26). In him was no dark- 
ness at all. When Daniel saw him, it was as " the 
Ancient of days, whose garment was white as snow, 
and the hair of his head like the pure wool" When 
John saw him, " his head and his hairs were white 
like wool, as white as snow." And when the dis- 
ciples saw him in the mount of transfiguration, 
"his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was 
white as the light!" (Dan. vii. 9 ; Eev. i. 14; Matt, 
xvii. 2.) None was ever pure and white like Jesus! 

He is ruddy also ; for he is " the Lamb slain 
from the foundation of the world" — the paschal 
lamb, whose blood, " the blood of the everlasting 
covenant," is sprinkled on the door-posts of every 
believer's heart. Even " in the midst of the throne" 
he is still seen, u a lamb as it had teen slain " (Eev. 
v. 6). And in a yet coming day, he shall appear 
" clothed with a vesture dipped in blood " — " red in 
thine apparel, and thy garments like him that 
treadeth in the wine-fat ! " (Eev. xix. 13 ; Isa. lxiii. 
1-3.) None was ever clad in a blood-dyed garment 
like Jesus ! 

" The chief est among ten thousand" (margin, "a 
standard-bearer "). 

" Who in the heaven can be compared unto the 
Lord 1 Who among the sons of the mighty can be 



124: 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



likened unto the Lord 1 " (Ps. lxxxix. 6.) "Thou 
art fairer than the children of men : thou lovest 
righteousness, and hatest wickedness ; therefore 
God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of 
gladness above thy fellows (Ps. xlv. 2, 7). None was 
ever so lovely, so exalted as Jesus ! God has given 
him as " a Leader and Commander to the people " 
— their " Ensign " and their " Forerunner " (Isa. lv. 
4 ; xi. 10 ; Heb. vi. 20)—" The Captain of their sal- 
vation *' (Heb. ii. 10). 

And the language of our hearts should ever be 
what the men of war said of old to David, " Thou 
art worth ten thousand of us" (2 Sam. xviii. 3). 
" The chiefest among ten thousand ! " The " Alpha 
and Omega " (Rev. i. 8) — " The First-born of every 
creature" (Col. i. 15-18)— The "Pearl of great 
price" (Matt. xiii. 46) — "A great High Priest" 
(Heb. iv. 14)—" That great Shepherd of the sheep " 
(Heb. xiii. 20)—" The great God," to. (Titus ii. 13) 
— " A great Rock in a weary land " (Isa. xxxii. 2) — 
the " greater than Solomon n (Matt. xii. 42)—" The 
Prince of the kings of the earth" (Rev. i. 5) — " The 
chief Shepherd" (1 Pet. v. 4) — " A chief corner- 
stone" (1 Pet. ii. 6) — " The First-born among many 
brethren " (Rom. viii. 29). Surely " God hath 
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is 
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow," &c. (Phil. ii. 9-11). 

As Newton has beautifully expressed it : — 



CHAPTER V. 



125 



" As by the light of opening day 
The stars are all conceal' d, 
So creature-pleasures fade away 
"When Jesus is reveal'd." 

" My beloved is white and ruddy ; the chiefest 
among ten thousand." 

; ' Yes ! my Beloved to my sight 
Shews a sweet mixture — red and white ; 
All human beauties, all divine, 
In my Beloved meet and shine. 
White is his soul, from blemish free, 
Red with the blood he shed for me. 
The fairest of ten thousand fairs, 
The sun among ten thousand stars." — Watts. 

But the Bride is not content with this general 
commendation of the excellencies of Jesus. He did 
not so easily weary of her beauty (see chap, iv.) j 
neither will she of his. She delights in himself, in 
his person, in all that he is. She cannot say enough 
to express what she finds in him. And truly it is 
deeply humbling that we can enter so little into her 
experience. The work and offices of their Lord are 
the most that many Christians ever know of him. 
His death, resurrection, and intercession are enough 
for them ; a believing apprehension of these divine 
mysteries secures their eternal safety, and they but 
seldom go on to the contemplation of all that Jesus 
is in his personal glory — his humanity — " His own 
self" (1 Pet. ii. 24). 

Consequently this precious book, which dwells so 
largely on this blessed theme, is but little prized and 
relished. The Lord lead us into a deeper conviction 
of his own exceeding excellencies, that we may 



126 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



realise what a portion we have in him now, and that 
we may ardently look for his return, when " we shall 

see him as he is ! " 

" The more Thy glories strike mine eyes, 
The lower / shall lie ; 
Thus while I sink, my joy shall rise 
Unmeasurably high." — Watts. 

Ver. 11. " His head is as the most fine gold." 

The most precions things the world contains are 
those chosen to set forth the worth of Jesus. " The 
most fine gold " (Heb. " gold of gold "). And this 
is spoken of the head of Jesus, that sacred head once 
crowned with thorns, once laid in a manger, — lC for 
the Son of man had not where to lay his head." 
But God hath " made him to be head over all 
things." " He is the head of the body, . , . that in 
all things he might have the pre-eminence " (Eph. 
i. 22; Col. i. 18; Ps. ex. 7). 

"We are reminded, too, of the Godhead of Christ 
— " The head of Christ is God " (1 Cor. xi. 3) ; and 
of his sovereignty, even as Nebuchadnezzar was 
represented as king of kings, by " a head of gold " 
(Dan. ii. 32, 38). 

The double expression, " gold, gold," may have 
reference to the two w T ords which are used in the 
original to signify gold — one, implying its shining 
brightness and brilliancy ; the other, its firmness and 
solidity. And thus the very height of excellency 
would be intended in the figure. 



CHAPTER V. 



127 



' ' His head the finest gold excels, 
There wisdom in perfection dwells ; 
And glory like a crown adorns 
Those temples once beset with thorns." — Watts. 

" And on his head were many crowns." Truly 
Jesus shall ever be found a golden possession to all 
who can claim him as their Beloved ! 

" His locks are bushy, and blade as a raven" 

The word rendered " black " is elsewhere trans- 
lated "youth" (see Eccles. xi. 10); so that the idea 
chiefly suggested in these words is the vigour of 
youth. " His locks are bushy, and black as a 
raven." There are no " gray hairs " to be found upon 
our Jesus (see Hos. vii. 9). While others are waxing 
old like a garment, he is ever " the same" and his 
years to all generations (Ps. cii. 27). 

The mention of a " raven " in such immediate 
contrast to the dove (ver. 12), is as remarkable as the 
preceding verse — " My beloved is white and ruddy" 
Such wonders, and (to our finite understandings) 
opposite attributes, are to be found combined in our 
God. With the simplicity of the dove is to be seen 
the impenetrable darkness of the raven : " black as 
a raven." " His judgments are very deep." " Clouds 
and darkness are round about him." " His path is 
in the sea, and his footsteps are not known." He is 
" past finding out" " He will render judgment to 
his enemies," for " he is strong in power " — " ivisdom 
and might are his " (Rom. xi. 33 ; Ps. xcvii. 2 ; Isa. 
xl. 26 ; Dan. ii. 20). 



128 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



There is none so omnipotent as Jesus ! 

Yer. 12. " His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the 
rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set K 
(margin, " sitting in fulness 

" The eyes of the Lord are in every place, behold- 
ing the evil and the good " — " All things are naked' 
and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we 
have to do " f'Prov xv. 3 ; Heb. iv. 13"). And there 
is nothing terrible in this to the believer, for ••' his 
eyes are as the eyes of doves" full of tenderness, 
gentleness, and affection. If his eyes run to and fro 
throughout the whole earth, it is that he may shew 
himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is per- 
fect toward him (2 Chron. xvi. 9). It is an un- 
speakable comfort to the children of God to know 
that the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous." 
and that he is always sitting by as the refiner, to 
watch the gold in the furnace. 

What locks of delight and complacency beam 
from the eyes of Jesus towards his people ! from 
those eyes, which once wept tears of grief over Jeru- 
salem — which were ,; lifted up " to meet the down- 
ward glance of his Father's eye. in prayer for his 
people (John xvii. 1) — and which a looked upon 
Peter " with such inimitable tenderness ! ( Luke xxii. 
61 : see also Ps. xxxii. 5 : Ex. iii. 7. S : Mark iii. 
3-i : Luke xix. 5.) 

Their being "'set in fulness " is strikingly set 
forth in Rev. v. 6 — •'*' a lamb having seven 



CHAPTER V. 



129 



horns and seven eyes " — seven denoting fulness, com- 
pleteness, and perfection (see also Zech. hi. 9, and 
iv. 10). 

There is none so omniscient as Jesus ! 
(Compare " doves by the rivers of waters," with 
Mat. hi. 16.) 

Ver. 13. "His cheeks are as a heel of spices, as 
sweet flowers" (margin, "Towers of perfumes"). 

Literally, his face, or countenance. All fragrance, 
sweetness, and beauty, are at once combined "in 
the face of Jesus Christ" — that face which was once 
shamefully entreated, and spitted on, as it is written, 
" I hid not my face from shame and spitting ; I gave 
my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair" (Isa. 
1. 6). But the believer finds it his highest delight 
to walk in the light of that countenance (Ps. iv. 6 ; 
lxxxix. 15). It is like walking beside "a bed of 
spices; " not, as it were, one flower here or there, but 
"a led of spices" — a mass of "sweet flowers," filling 
the air with fragrance. 

"His lips like lilies, dropping sweet- smelling myrrh" 

" Grace is poured into thy lips" (Ps. xlv. 2). His 
lips were ever ready to drop sweetness, for " never 
man spake like this man !" " He will speak peace 
unto his people, and to his saints" (John vii. 46 ; 
Ps. lxxxv. 8). "The words that I speak unto you, 
they are spirit, and they are life"— for "the Lord 
God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I 
i 



130 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMOX. 



should know how to speak a word in season to him 
that is weary" John vi. 63 ; Isa. 1. 4). Who can 
tell the efficacy of those " gracious words that pro- 
ceed out of his mouth" ? " Spe \ the word ordy : and 
hit seiwant shall be healed." 

Very sweet were the words of comfort the Lord 
Jesus was wont to drop, from time to time, as he went 
about doing good ; — to a bereaved widow. " Weep 
not" (Luke vii. 13) ; to the poor woman who came 
behind him trembling to touch only the border of 
his garment. " Daughter, be of good comfort : go in 
peace" (Luke viii. 48 : to the ruler of the syna- 
gogue, when the heart-rending intelligence of his 
child's death reached him. " Be not afraid, only be- 
lieve" ( Mark v. 36' ; to the disciples, when they 
" cried out for fear." and were troubled, because they 
saw (as they thought' a spirit walking on the sea. 
"Be of good cheer : it is I. be not afraid" Matt, 
xiv. 24-27). 

And yet those lips were accused of speaking 
" blasphemy 1 " 

Yer. 14. " His hands are as gold rings set v:ith the 
beryl" 

" The beryl is a green stone, which never receives 
reflection from any other colour or shade, but remains 
unaffected by contact with other things." — Mrs 
Stevens. 

The beryl set in golden rings seems,, therefore, to 
represent the perfection of the works of his hands. 



CHAPTER V. 



131 



Nothing can be added to them, nothing taken from 
them. 

" His work is perfect"— " The works of his hands 
are verity and judgment : they stand fast for ever 
and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness" 
(Deut. xxxii. 4 j Ps. cxi. 7, 8). " 0 Lord, how 
manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made 
them all" (Ps. civ. 24). " Excellent in working" 
(Isa. xxviii. 29). 

" His hands are fairer to behold 
Than diamonds set in rings of gold ; 
Those heavenly hands that on the tree 
Were nail'd, and torn, and bled for me." — Watts. 

When Peter was ready to sink, " immediately 
Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him" 
(Matt. xiv. 31); when a man " full of leprosy" 
came and besought him to heal him, Jesus, without 
heeding the loathsomeness of the disease, " put forth 
his hand, and touched him" (Luke v. 13) ; and when 
a blind man was brought to him, he took him by 
the hand and led him out of the town, and once and 
again he laid his hands upon him, until he was re- 
stored, and saw every man clearly (Mark viii. 22-25) ; 
whilst to the unbelieving Thomas he said, " Eeach 
hither thy finger, and behold my hands!''' &c, the 
hands once pierced with nails ! (John xx. 20-27.) 

Oh! how precious the security of the Church of 
Christ, graven on the palms of his hands (Isa. xlix. 
16), even those hands whence none shall pluck the 
least lamb in his fold ! (John x. 29) ; " in whose 
hand are all the corners of the earth," and who 



132 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" hath measured the waters in the hollow of his 
hand ! " (Isa. xl. 12.) Oh ! how sweet to have that 
upholding hand under our head, and his right hand 
embracing us! How sweet to be enclosed within 
those golden rings ! 

" His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires." 

" His bowels (as the word is everywhere else ren- 
dered) are as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires 
the bowels of his compassion. " My bowels are 
troubled for him : I will surely have mercy upon him, 
saith the Lord" — " Mine heart is turned within me; 
my repentings are kindled together" (Jer. xxxi. 20 ; 
Hos. xi. 8; see also Isa. lxiii. 15). The expression 
bespeaks the depth of the riches of his tenderness 
and love. It commends the heart of Christ, of which 
he said when on earth, " My heart is like wax, it is 
melted in the midst of my bowels" (Ps. xxii. 14). 
How intense was the anguish which wrung from him 
that bitter cry, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, 
even unto death ! " and how tender the love which 
moved him at the grave of Lazarus, when u He 
groaned in the spirit and was troubled ! " (Matt. xxvi. 
38 ; John xi. 33.) 

" With joy we meditate the grace 
Of our High Priest above ; 
His heart is full of tenderness, 
His bowels melt with love." — Watts. 

" His bowels are as bright ivory overlaid with 
sapphires." " Of bright ivory," that is, of the best 



CHAPTER V. 



133 



sort, as all that is in Christ is. " Overlaid with 
sapphires " — a stone of a sky-blue colour, so that the 
height and depth of the love of Christ, " which passeth 
knowledge," are at once presented to our view. No 
wonder if it be found difficult to express it by any 
earthly comparison — " The experimental knowledge 
of it will be the best and safest commentary upon 
it. 5 ' — Durham. 

For none has a heart of love like Jesus ! 

Ver. 15. u His legs are as pillars of marble set upon 
sockets of fine gold" 

The word translated " legs " comes from a root, 
which signifies to walk, so that the ways or goings of 
the Lord may be understood here. " All the paths 
of the Lord are mercy and truth " — "All his ways 
are judgment" (Ps. xxv. 10; Deut. xxxii. 4). "As 
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my 
ways higher than your ways" (Isa. lv. 8, 9); not 
" crooked ways," nor uncertain, but " equal " (Ezek. 
xviii. 29), and sure " as pillars of marble set upon 
sockets of fine gold." 

It is a source of unspeakable comfort to the be- 
liever to be upheld by such Almightiness — (e pillars 
of marble ! " The following is a beautiful instance 
of this : — " I have a very dear boy in my parish," 
writes the Rev. R. M. M'Cheyne, " who is dying just 
now. He said to me the other day, 6 1 have just 
been feeding for some days on the words you gave 
me — His legs are as pillars of marble set upon 



134 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



sockets of fine gold ; for I am sure he will be able to 
carry me and all my sins.' " 

He is mighty to bear up every believer that is 
hung upon him (Isa. xxii. 23, 24 ; see also Ps. lxxv. 3). 

" Though once he bow'd his feeble knees, 
Loaded with sins and agonies : 
Now on the throne of his command, 
His legs like marble pillars stand." — Watts. 

And the foundation, like the head, is " of fine 
gold." So divine is Jesus ! " The God incarnate, 
Man divine " — " Set up from everlasting, from the 
beginning," &c. (Prov. viii. 22, 23). 

" His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the 
cedars." 

" The word countenance is used in Scripture to 
signify not only the face, but the whole stature of a 
person, or that which gives one the full sight of all 
his parts together. Compare 2 Sam. xxiii. 21 (in 
the original, " a man of countenance ") with 1 Chron. 
xi. 23. "A man of stature." — Durham. 

It should therefore be, "His stature is as Leba- 
non, excellent as the cedars " — the cedars of Leba- 
non being unrivalled by any in the world for their 
loftiness, glory, and majesty ■ and, therefore, chosen 
by the Bride to describe her Beloved. " Excellent," 
elect, or choice as the cedars. 

And thus she passes from the minor consideration 
of the several parts of his person, in each and all of 
which he was lovely, to compare him in his full 



CHAPTER V. 



13-5 



stature to the cedars of Lebanon ! Truly there is 
none so glorious, none so " full of majesty," as 
Jesus ! 

Yer. 16. " His mouth is most sweet" 

Literally, " his mouth is sweetness." The mouth 
in this place differs from the words of the mouth, or 
the lips ; it rather signifies the friendliness or sensible 
manifestations of the love of Christ, as expressed in 
chapter i. 2, " Let him kiss me with the kisses of his 
mouth." — Durham. 

It is neither hearing him, nor seeing him, but tast- 
ing of his sweetness. It is as if the Bride had said, 
Ask ye what my beloved is ? " He is indeed stately 
to look upon, &c. j but, his mouth, ivhen it is felt, in 
his own kissing of his Bride, by manifestations of his 
love to her sense — there, there, oh ! there, exceeding 
inexpressible and unconceivable delight and satisfac- 
tion is to be found ! " — Durham. 

This was what the Bride knew and enjoyed, of 
which the daughters of Jerusalem knew nothing. 
This it is which yields such happiness to believers, 
to which professors are utter strangers. This it is 
which makes his absence so intolerable, and his pre- 
sence so unutterably sweet. " His mouth is sweet- 
ness" — sweetness itself, such as no similitude can 
express. It is but one word in the original, and 
that in the plural number, signifying the excessive 
sweetness, the soul-ravishing delight which experi- 
mental experiences of the love of Jesus beget in the 



136 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



soul. " Let him kiss me with the kisses of his 
mouth/' for, " his mouth is most sweet," yea, " sweet- 
nesses!" 

" Yea, he is altogether lovely" 

" All over glorious is my Lord." — Watts. 

" He is all desires" as it is in the original. It 
were vain to attempt to say all he is, because there 
is nothing desirable that is not in him ! " In him 
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily!' 5 
(Col. i. 19 ; ii. 9.) "All the beauties and perfec- 
tions that are scattered among creatures are in an 
eminent and transcendent way gathered together, 
and to be found in him at once." — Durham. 

" All my capacious powers can wish. 

In thee doth richly meet." — Doddridge. 

" Join all the glorious names, 

Of wisdom, love, and power, 

That ever mortals knew, 

Or angels ever bore : 
All are too mean to speak his worth — 
Too mean to set my Saviour forth." — Watts. 

Professors ask, "What is thy beloved more than 
another beloved ? " The Bride replies, " Christ is all 
and in all " 

" If ask'd what of Jesus I think? 

Though still my best thoughts are but poor, 
I say, He's my meat and my drink, 

My life, and my strength, and my store ; 
My shepherd, my husband, my friend, 

My Saviour from sin and from thrall, 
My hope from beginning to end, 

My portion, my Lord, and my all." — Newton. 

Whom have I need of in heaven bat Christ ? and 



CHAPTEE V. 



137 



whom should I desire on earth beside him ? for " he 
is all desires." 

" This is my beloved, and this is my friend, 0 
daughters of Jerusalem" 

This is holy boasting, it is glorying in the Lord. 
This " altogether lovely " one is my Beloved ! Well 
might she therefore ask, " Is not my beloved more 
than another beloved, 0 ye daughters of Jerusalem % " 
And the greatest wonder of all is, He is mine! — "my 
beloved, my friend." Thrice blessed assurance ! 
" Poor, weak, and worthless though I am, I have a 
rich, almighty friend," &c. Jesus loves to be thus 
remembered and spoken of. " They that feared the 
Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord 
hearkened and heard it," &c. (Mai. iii. 16). We 
should think of his hands and feet once pierced with 
nails, but now stretched forth for our salvation ; of 
his lips speaking words of life, peace, and comfort ; 
of his bowels yearning over his dear children ; of his 
legs so mighty to uphold • and of his eyes ever over 
us for good ! And we should speak of him to others, 
and be ever telling to sinners around, " What a dear 
Saviour we have found." Our souls should make 
their boast in the Lord, that the humble may hear 
thereof and be glad (Ps. xxxiv. 2). 

But when we remember that this is our Beloved, 
and our friend, should not every rising doubt, every 
anxious fear, every unbelieving thought be silenced 1 
Is he not able out of the riches of his glory to sup- 



138 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



ply every need ? Is he not always nigh ? — " a God at 
hand, and not a God afar off" ? — " able to do for us 
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or 
think" 1 Oh ! for more faith, more simple reliance, 
more abiding confidence in our dear Eedeemer ! 
" Perfect love casteth out fear ; " and all we want to 
give us a more unshaken confidence in Jesus, is more 
of that deep affection and constant love which it is 
the part of the Bride to exercise towards her Be- 
loved. We should be so engrossed with the contem- 
plation of the Lord as to forget all meaner things. 

" I travel through, a desert drear and wild, 
Yet is my heart with such sweet thoughts beguiled, 
Of Him on whom I lean, my strength, my stay, 
I can forget the sorrows of the way." 

Such will be more and more the language of our 
hearts as we are more and more occupied with 
thoughts " of him." " Jesus Christ, the same yester- 
day, to-day, and for ever." " Oh ! what a friend is 
Christ to me !" 

" Our Jesus shall be still our theme, 
While in this world we stay ; 
We'll sing our Jesus' lovely name, 
When all things here decay. 

" When we appear in yonder cloud, 
With all the ransom' d throng, 
Then will we sing more sweet, more loud, 
And Christ shall be our song." — Cennick. 



" My meditation of him shall be sweet." 



CHAPTER VI. 



The Daughters of Jerusalem. 

Ver. 1. " Whither is thy beloved gone, 0 thou fairest 
among women? whither is thy beloved turned 
aside ? that we may seek him with thee^ 

What blessed consequences flow from speaking of 
Jesus ! Not only had the Bride regained her own 
happy confidence in her Beloved, so that she could 
say " this is my beloved, and this is my friend, 0 
daughters of Jerusalem" (chap. v. 16); but they 
have also an earnest desire kindled within them to 
•seek him too ! " Whither is thy beloved turned 
aside ? that we may seek him with thee." Surely 
this ought to teach us that, if we would be of use to 
others, it is of Jesus we must speak. He must be 
the object to which we must direct them, as well as 
look ourselves j and it is very blessed to be joined in 
our heavenward way by fresh travellers to Zion, who 
are attracted thither by our beauty and our joys. 
We should ever be saying as we go, " Come with 
us, and we will do thee good ; " and some at least 
will be induced to seek the Saviour cc with " us. 



140 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



But the believer must also learu from these words 
how dishonouring his low views of Jesus are. The 
Bride had said, that "he had withdrawn himself, 
and was gone ; " and consequently these professors 
are led to inquire, " Whither he had. turned aside % 
and whither he was gone ? " as if Jesus ever " turned 
aside/' or ever forsook his people ! It is thus that 
we cast stumbling-blocks in our brother's way, ren- 
dering it difficult for them to know where to find 
him whom we cannot find ! whereas he is ever nigh. 

" Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into 
heaven ? (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ; 
or who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to 
bring up Christ again from the dead) ; but what 
saith it ? the word is nigh thee," &c. (Rom. x. 6, <fcc.) 

It is a blessed employment to be "seeking for 
Jesus " (John vi. 24) ; for he never says, " Seek ye 
me in vain," but rather, " Seek, and ye shall find ; " 
" Those that seek me early shall find me " (Matt, 
vii. 7, 8 ; Prov. viii. 17). — For "the Lord is good 
unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh 
him," and "is a rewarder of them that diligently 
seek him " (Lam. iii. 25 ; Heb. xi. 6). " Whither is 
thy beloved turned aside ? that we may seek him with 
thee" 

The Bride's Reply. 
Ver. 2. " My beloved is gone down into his garden, 
to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to 
gather lilies." 

At once the Bride is able to reply in the confi- 



CHAPTER VI. 



Ul 



dence of faith, my beloved is in his garden, where 
he is ever wont to be. It is precious experience ; 
for, whilst speaking to others of Jesus, her own sor- 
rows were entirely forgotten. Her thoughts were 
turned av: ay from herself and all her affections called 
into exercise towards him. And now the eye of faith 
is fixed upon him, and she sees him, and regains her 
assurance and feels him present ! Thus, like Mary, 
we may often be seeking for Jesus when he is stand- 
ing beside us, and be speaking to him, though we 
know it not (John xx. 14, Id). But the moment 
he is come down sensibly into the garden of a be- 
liever's soul, that soul immediately cries out, " He is 
mine ! my beloved !" 

This verse sets forth some of the delightsome occu- 
pations of the heavenly husbandman in his garden ; 
he feeds there, and he gathers his flowers. " My beloved 
is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to 
feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies'''' . He loves 
to reap the precious fruit of the Spirit sown in each 
heart : "The husbandman that laboureth must be 
first partaker of the fruits" (2 Tim. ii. 6). He eats 
and chinks (chap. v. 1). He sees of the travail of 
his soul, and is satisfied ; feeding in his gardens. 
Oftentimes, indeed, he finds his plants so choked with 
the cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, that 
they need purging and pruning : but there are many 
souls that are as " beds of spices " to the Lord Jesus, 
and amongst these he goes and feeds. 

Again, there are "lilies" growing there, taken 



142 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



from amongst the thorns, chosen out of the world, 
and gathered by the Lord to be planted in his gar- 
den ; and these he oft-times gathers in a still closer 
sense to himself, drawing them aside for a season 
even from their fellow-Christians, by illness or be- 
reavement, to hold near communion with himself. 
But there is a higher sense still in which he gathers 
them, namely, when he plucks them out of his gar- 
den, to plant them in his own bosom — in the very 
house and courts of God above. Thus Enoch i£ was 
not, for God took him" (Gen. v. 24) ; Jacob was 
" gathered unto his people" (Gen. xlix. 33) ; Stephen 
"fell asleep" in Jesus (Acts vii. 60). And so one 
lily after another has been gathered, until there is 
in heaven already an innumerable multitude of the 
" Church of the first-born ;" and yet lily after lily 
shall still be gathered, until the Saviour comes again 
and receives us unto himself, sending forth his angels 
to gather his elect from the four winds, from the one 
end of heaven to the other, so that all shall be safely 
gathered into the heavenly garner (Matt. xxiv. 31), 
and be " for ever with the Lord." 

Till then we see Jesus "in his garden," nurtur- 
ing each lily planted there, making it to bud, and 
blossom, and bring forth fruit, and, when the fruit 
is ripe, immediately putting in the sickle, and placing 
it in his own bosom (Mark iv. 28, 29, margin). 
Surely we need not dread to be gathered thus ! We 
should learn to think of death as the gathering of 
lilies by the Lord — as going to be with " Jesus." 



CHAPTER VI. 



143 



Ver. 3. " i" am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine ; 
he feedeth among the lilies" 

The Bride has now recovered through grace the 
full assurance of the presence of Jesus in the midst 
of her : " He feedeth among the lilies." She has not 
a doubt left : " I am my beloved' s, and my beloved 
is mine." And there is a difference in this expres- 
sion from a nearly similar one which she had used 
before, that may not be without meaning and com- 
fort. For she does not come to this conclusion here 
so much from the conviction that Christ is hers as 
that she is Chris? s. She has felt that she cannot give 
him up, and may therefore reasonably conclude that 
he will not give her up. The two states of mind 
are different, and are arrived at through different 
stages of experience. In chap. ii. 16, it was the 
comparatively young believer drawing the conclusion 
that she was the Lord's from the sensible assurance 
that he was hers ; but here it is the advanced and 
deeply-tried Christian testing the fact that, whether 
absent or present, her Beloved was still her Beloved, 
because she so unfeignedly yielded her whole self to 
him — " I am my beloved's." I know it, and there- 
fore I am confident that he also is mine. Like 
Thomas, who exclaimed, as soon as ever he beheld 
the wounded hands and feet of his Eedeemer, " My 
Lord, and my God!" (John xx. 28); like David, 
resting in the calm assurance, " The Lord is my shep- 
herd;" like Mary, boasting herself in the infant 
Jesus, " My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour ! " 



144 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



or, like Jeremiah, in the depth of tribulation, declar- 
ing, a The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, there- 
fore will I hope in him " (Ps. xxiii. 1 ; Luke L 47 ; 
Lam. iii. 24). (i My beloved is mine. " 

Christ. 

Ver. 4. " Thou art beautiful, 0 my love, as Tirzah" 

Again the Lord makes mention of the beauty of 
his Bride ! And this without one complaint of her 
past ingratitude and unkind behaviour towards him. 
How like Jesus ! how divine ! how worthy of a God ! 
" He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor re- 
warded us according to our iniquities. As far as 
the east is from the west, so far hath he removed 
our transgressions from us " (Ps. ciii. 10, 12). 

u Thou art beautiful, 0 my love, as Tirzah." 
" Tirzah " signifies pleasing or acceptable ; it was the 
name of the royal palace of the kings of Israel (1 
Kings xiv. 17), and was as beautiful as kingly state 
could make it. The Lord was, therefore, looking 
upon his Bride, his Church, as the royal dwelling- 
place of the King of kings. 

How precious and how wonderful to think of 
Jesus owning sinners, as " the palace of the King of 
kings!"— " Beautiful as Tirzah." "So shall the 
King greatly desire thy beauty''' for he it is that 
worketh in us the things which are " well-pleasing 
in his sight." 



CHAPTER VI. 



145 



Cornel?/ as Jerusalem.''' 

" Jerusalem " was the residence of the kings of 
Judah, " the place which the Lord chose to put his 
name there;" still a royal residence, but in a much 
higher sense than Tirzah was. So the Lord adds 
figure to figure, with yet increasing force and sig- 
nificance, to set forth all that his Church was to 
him. " Comely as Jerusalem." 

This is the city whose name shall be a Jehovah- 
shammah." the Lord is there (Ezek. xlviii. 35). 
" whither the tribes go up. the tribes of the Lord.*' 
&e. It is " beautiful for situation, the joy of the 
whole earth, the city of the great King w (Ps. cxxii. 
1. &c. ; Ps. xlviii. 1. <fcc.) It is surrounded with 
mountains (Ps. cxxv. 1. 2), encompassed with walls, 
and bulwarks, and towers (Ps. xlviii. 13), and is 
" builded as a city that is compact together n (Ps. 
cxxii. 3). At once setting forth the loveliness, 
security, unity, and royalty of the Church of Christ, 
as built upon " the Piock of Ages." And yet the 
comeliness of the earthly Jerusalem sinks into com- 
parative insignificance with (t the heavenly Jeru- 
salem." unto which we are come (Heb. xii. 22. and 
Rev. xxi.) 

" Terrible as an army with banners" 

The word " terrible M seems to be used here, not 
so much in the sense of something frightful or 
awful, as of something dazzling and glittering. Just 
as an army with banners glittering in the sun pre- 



146 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



sents a dazzling spectacle to the natural eye. so the 
Church of Jesus, clad in the panoply of God, shines 
with a brilliancy of glory in the eyes of her Beloved. 
u For the weapons of our warfare are not earned , 
but mighty through God/' &e. 

We can form no just conception of the sight 
presented to our Redeemer by his Church militant 
here on earth, fighting its way through hosts of 
spiritual enemies, in a world that absolutely lieth in 
the wicked one (1 John v. 19. Gr.) ; every member 
of that Church bearing in his hand ~ the sword of 
the Spirit/' and taking * the shield of faith." (fee., 
and each one fighting under the banner of love ! — a 
poor and despised people in the eyes of the world 
around them, but dazzling and terrible in the sight 
of Jesus — u as an army with banners." For " we 
are more than conquerors, through him that loved 
us " (Rom. viii. 37). 

Yer. 5. ei Turn away thine eyes from me, for they 
have overcome me" 

"What amazing condescension in Jesus, to suffer 
himself to be " overcome " by his Bride ! Hot by 
carnal weapons, nor by any mightiness of her own. 
but by the depth of her affections, and intensity of 
her love! "Tarn away thine eyes from me. for 
they have overcome me." 

Like Jacob wrestling with the angel, she <; had 
power with God . . . and prevailed " (Gen. xxxii. ;2S : 
Hos. xii. 4) ; even though the angel had said. w Let 



CHAPTER VI. 



147 



me go." And like the disciples journeying to Ern- 
niaus, who u constrained " Jesus to go in and abide 
with thern, though he made as though he would 
have gone further (Luke xxiv. 28, 29). Like Moses, 
too, whom God forbid to pray, saying, " Let me 
alone," as though his prayers could prevail with 
God — and he did pray, and overcame! (Ex. xxxii. 
9-14). For the Lord is under a blessed necessity to 
yield to the entreaties of his people, by reason of 
his own faithful promises. He does not, therefore, 
intend to check the earnestness of his people in 
prayer, but designs in this way to provoke and en- 
courage them to still greater importunity ; just as 
he said before, " Thou hast ravished (or taken away) 
mine heart with one of thine eyes I" (chap. iv. 9.) 

What a blessed result of " looking unto Jesus ! " 
" Thine eyes have overcome me ! " Alas ! how 
much we lose by looking at our own hearts instead 
of " looking unto Jesus ! " We ought rather to 
covet the honour and privilege of thus enrapturing 
his heart — a privilege which might be ours, if only 
we walked " worthy of our high calling." 

The expression, " turn away thine eyes from me,"' 
implies a fixed and steady gaze, such as David's 
when he said, " Mine eyes are ever toward the 
Lord" (Ps. xxv. 15). AVe should cultivate this 
steadfast " looking unto Jesus," that our eyes may 
u wait upon the Lord our God " (Ps. cxxiii. 2). 

Or the words may be rendered thus : — " Turn 
thine eyes towards me, for they have lifted me up." 



148 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



For the Hebrew word, " turn away," signifies also 
"turn to" (as in 1 Chron. xii. 23) ; and the expres- 
sion, " they have overcome me," is literally, " they 
have lifted me up " with strength and comfort (as 
in Ps. cxxxviii. 3). — Rowbotham. 

" Thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from 
Gilead." 

God uses no vain repetitions ; there is, therefore, 
some precious truth to be sought out from the re- 
currence of this passage from chap iv. 1-3. The 
Bride had fallen into grievous declension since these 
words were there uttered. " She might, therefore, 
think that Christ had other thoughts of her now, 
and, to remove her suspicion, and shew her that she 
was the very same to him, he will not only com- 
mend her afresh, but in the very same words." — 
Durham. 

Ver. 6, 7. " Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which 
go up from the washing, ivhereof every one beareth 
twins, and there is not one barren among them. 
As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within 
thy locks.'" 

" However apt believers may be to slip and fail 
in their duty, and from their own fickleness to sus- 
pect that Christ is changeable also, refusing all past 
evidences of his love, and the words that have com- 
forted them aforetime, the Lord graciously repeats 
what he had said, to prove his unchangeableness" — 
Durham. 



CHAPTER VI. 



149 



Our failings and shortcomings, nay, even our 
backsliding^ cannot alter his love towards us. 
" Having loved his own which were in the world, 
he loved them unto the end'' (John xiii. 1). We 
sadly wrong him and dishonour him when we sus- 
pect him of loving us less after a fall, than he did 
before. It is limiting the Holy One of Israel (Ps. 
lxxviii. 41). Just what the Bride was in chap. iv #J 
before she fell into declension, she is still, in chap. 
vi. 3 after it. 

'•'His love no variation knovrs." 

And we should adore the gracious condescension 
of our God in teaching it thus. " "Who is a God 
like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth 
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage % " 
(Mic. vii. 18-20.) 

Ver. 8, 9. " There are threescore queens, and four- 
score concubines, and virgins without number. 
My dove, my undefiled is but one ; she is the only 
one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that 
bare her" 

This language is very forcible, if taken as the 
words of the literal Solomon, to set forth spiritual 
mysteries. In 1 Kings xi. 3. we read that " he had 
seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred 
concubines," the strange women whom Solomon 
loved, "together with (or besides) the daughter 
of Pharaoh" (1 Kings xi. 1). 

But however attractive they may once have ap- 



150 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



peared to him, he now surveys them, and comparing 
his Bride with them, he sees how she surpasses 
them all ! And thus he takes occasion to make 
known the estimation of the Church in the eyes 
of the Lord Jesus. " My dove, my undefiled is 
but one;" "Many are called, but few chosen." 
There are multitudes of professors who call them- 
selves Christians — multitudes with half or divided 
hearts (fitly represented by concubines or " half- 
wives "), but it belongs to the Bride alone to be the 
" dove, the undefiled " of Jesus. " The achath, 
J"]nK, the one; the yechidah, ITDVP, the darling, 
the only one; from the root, to be joined — united 
together." 

" But one " — " there is one body, and one Spirit, 
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling " 
(Eph. iv. 4). There are a many members," it is 
true, but it is one and the same Spirit that actuates 
the whole body. 

" The only one of her mother ; " such alone as 
are truly born again of the Spirit can be members 
of that body. " Baptized into Christ" " No more 
twain, but one flesh." " There shall be one fold and 
one shepherd." " That they may be one, even as 
we are one " (John x. 16 ; xvii. 22). 

But it is yet further added, "the choice one of 
her that bare her ; " " chosen in him before the 
foundation of the world ; " " elect according to the 
foreknowledge of God the Father," and " chosen 
to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, 



CHAPTER VI. 



151 



and belief of the truth" (Eph. i. 4; 1 Pet. i. 2 ; 
2Thess. ii. 13). 

The Lord Jesus sets his affections on but one 
chosen object. None others share his love with his 
Bride. " She is the only one — the choice one ! " the 
" undefiled ! " " Ye are no more strangers and 
foreigners/' but " very members incorporate into 
the mystical body of Christ." " But one. 1 ' 

And just as the Bride had boasted of the supreme 
excellence of her Beloved above every other, saying, 
" This is my beloved, and this is my friend," so 
Christ now compares her with her rival queens, 
concubines, and virgins, and asserts her superiority 
far above them all, saying, " My dove, my undefiled 
is but one" <fcc. 

" The daughters saw her, and blessed her ; yea, the 
queens and the concubines, and they praised her" 

" Thy renown went forth among the heathen for 
thy beauty, for it was perfect through my comeli- 
ness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord" 
(Ezek. xvi. 14). Such is the beauty of Jesus as 
reflected in his Church ! Even in the world the 
Bride is owned as fair, " the fairest among women," 
and worthy to be " praised." " All that see them 
shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed 
which the Lord hath blessed" (Isa. Ixi. 9) ; and 
shall take knowledge of them that they have been 
with Jesus (Acts iv. 13). But it will be "in the 
ages to come " that Jesus will be emphatically 



152 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" glorified in his saints, and admired in all them 
that believe," even when his perfected Bride " shall 
appear with him in glory," and be no longer hidden 
with Christ in God ! It may be that the literal 
Israel will then discover a meaning in these words, 
as they gaze upon "the Bride, the Lamb's wife," 
which cannot be understood in the present dispen- 
sation. But it is for us to see, in the language of 
this book, the mystical and spiritual union existing 
between the Lord Jesus Christ and every believer 
composing his true Church. 

Oh ! to reflect so much of his loveliness as that 
even strangers may admire his beauty in us i 

Yer. 10. " Wlio is she that looheth forth as the 
morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and 
terrible as an army with banners f" 

It seems as if the Lord would say, And do ye 
now see and admire her beauty ? it is but as the 
early dawn of day. As yet she is but, as it were, 
emerging from the darkness of the shadow of death ; 
her looking forth is but "as the morning." Ye 
shall see greater things than these, for she is ordained 
to shine " more and more unto the perfect day " 
(Prov. iv. 18). 

There is great beauty in the two figures here 
chosen by the Lord as characteristic of his Church 
— u fair as the moon — clear as the sun." The 
moon shines, but not with its own light : it is never 
wholly free from spot or shade, nor does it always 



CHAPTER VI. 



153 



shine with equal light. Fit emblem of the child of 
God, as in himself a dark, opaque body, shining only 
with the reflected beams of the Sun of Righteous- 
ness — he never reflects that light perfectly, nor does 
he need to be told how he shines more or less 
brightly as he comes nearer or recedes further from 
the Sun from whom his light is borrowed. As his 
orbit varies, so does his light ; yet, in whatever 
measure that light shines upon him, he is "fair." 
" We all beholding as in a glass the glory of the 
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory 
to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord " (2 Cor. 
hi. 18). 

And just as "the moon" was divinely constituted 
"to give light" by night (Gen. i. 15, 16), so does 
the Church of Christ shine forth as a light in the 
world, all through the present night of darkness, 
until the shadows flee away, and she shines forth 
" clear as the sun." 

" Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun 
in the kingdom of their Father" (Matt. xiii. 43). 
From the first moment of her union with Christ, 
she is in him, " clear as the sun ; " " complete in 
him;" holy as he is holy; righteous as he is 
righteous ; "perfect" through the comeliness which 
he has put upon her ; for " as he is, so are we in 
this world" (1 John iv. 17). We are one with him 
— nay, we are a part of himself — members of his 
body, of his flesh, and of his bones. We are " made 
the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor. v. 21) • 



154 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" without spot" "faultless," " unblameable, and mire- 
provable ; " yea, " clear as the sun." Thus (in 
Rev. xii. 1) the Church is represented as " a woman 
clothed with the sun" (taking the words spiri- 
tually) j shining forth as one vast constellation of 
glory ! 

Believers cannot see themselves too strongly in 
this light — in Jesus, justified and sanctified perfectly. 
For " by him all that believe are justified from all 
things/ 5 washed, sanctified, and justified, <fec. (Acts 
xiii. 39; 1 Cor. vi. 11.) Yet in themselves they are 
dark as the moon, and ever prone to wax and wane 
in holiness. Their light depends solely on their 
nearness to or distance from "the Sun of Righ- 
teousness;" and whilst on the one hand they are 
ever variable, ever changing and fluctuating, they 
are on the other hand always " clear," as Jesus is — 
clad in Ms righteousness — hidden beneath his body- 
covering robe, and perfect in his comeliness. " The 
glory which thou gavest me, I have given them. 
that they may be one, even as we are one " (John 
xvii. 22). 

And to all this it is added, that the Church of 
Christ is likewise " terrible as an army with ban- 
ners," i e., presenting a dazzling appearance (see on 
ver. 4). It is " fair" and " clear as the sun ; " but 
it is even more, it is of resplendent brilliancy, of 
dazzling brightness ! Some commentators even 
render the clause, " Dazzling as the streamer " (?'. e. } 
a comet). 



CHAPTER VI. 



155 



Such, then, is the glorious beauty of poor, despised 
Christians in the sight of Christ ! 

Ver. 11. " I went down into the garden of nuts to 
see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the 
vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded." 

The mention of "the garden of nuts" is replete 
with most precious instruction. The Bride little 
thought, when she was pursuing her earnest search 
after Christ, in the former part of the preceding 
chapter, how that experience was ripening her 
fruits. She little knew that he was then prepar- 
ing her for presenting to him these " fruits of the 
valley" But, oh ! what encouragement it affords 
for those who are " now for a season, if needs be, 
in heaviness through manifold temptations," for the 
trial of their faith ! It is this which ripens the 
autumnal fruits. There had already been the indi- 
cations of spring, so early as the second chapter of 
the book ; — the passing away of the storms and rain 
of winter, the flowers appearing on the earth ; the 
singing of birds, the green figs, and the tender grape. 
And there had been, somewhat later, all the lovely 
evidences of the summer season (in chap, iv.) An 
orchard of fruit trees, plants, and flowers, and chief 
spices, and trees of frankincense, all in full perfec- 
tion ; a garden well watered, and made to emit 
sweet fragrance through the breathings of the Holy 
Spirit — " the north wind and the south." 

But now another stage of Christian experience 



156 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



is attained. Jesus finds in the advancing believer 
a garden of nuts, and "fruits of the valley" — 
autumnal fruits. 

These are not to be found in the young and 
inexperienced believer, but in the matured and 
deeply -tried children of God. Fruits of humiliation. 
Oh ! it is well to be brought into the valley of 
humiliation, for the fruits to be found there are 
carefully looked for, and much valued by our Lord. 
He who calls himself " the Lily of the valley" will 
not despise " the fruits of the valley " in his people. 
His eye is ever watching the plants in his garden 
— he is ever noticing the growth of each (1 John 
ii. 12-14). "I went down into the garden of nuts, 
to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether 
the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded." 
The " nuts " and " fruits of the valley " represent 
the fathers in Christ ; the flourishing vines, the 
young men ; and the budding pomegranates, the 
babes. Thus the Lord has his eye upon each ; 
looking for fruit in the long-tried Christian, for a 
flourishing state in his vineyard, and in the pome- 
granates for the early buds. " Fruit in his season " 
(Ps. i. 3). 

Yer. 12. " Or ever I was aware, my soul made 
me like the chariots of Ammi-nadib" (margin, " set 
me on the chariots of my willing people" Ps. 
ex. 3). 

This expression seems to denote something of 



CHAPTER VI. 



157 



the same enrapturing feeling on the part of Christ 
as that in verse 5, " Turn away thine eyes from me, 
for they have overcome me ; " or, as in chap. iv. 9, 
" Thou hast ravished (or taken away) mine heart." 
The Lord Jesus condescends to be thus acted upon, 
as it were, by his Bride — the Church. 

" Or ever I was aware, my soul set me on the 
chariots of my willing people" — for so the word 
" Ammi-nadib " may be rendered. Ammi signifies 
"my people" (Hosea ii. 1, margin), and Nadib is 
the word used in Psalm ex. 3, " Thy people shall 
be willing" &c. The intense earnestness of his 
Bride for communion with him, the steadfastness 
with which she looks after him, and the delight 
with which she welcomes him back, after for a 
season losing her sensible hold of him, stir up all 
his inmost affections towards her, so that he is 
overcome and carried away with them ! 

What amazing condescension in Jesus, that he 
should represent himself as capable of being so 
moved by redeemed sinners ! Little do we think 
how, in these ways, we all become the subjects 
either of grief or of holy delight to J esus. Christians 
do not consider as they ought, the depth and inten- 
sity of his feelings towards them. " As the bride- 
groom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God 
rejoice over thee" (Isa. lxii. 5). Alas! we know 
but little of sympathy with what he feels — but this 
should not be in the "members of his body." 
Should not the hands and feet move at all times 



158 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



in unison with the head? The Lord give us to 
share more of his joy (John xv. 11). 

It is possible that the ultimate meaning of these 
■words may be in reference to that moment," 
when, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, 
we shall all be changed, and Jesus shall see of the 
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied — when he 
will, as it were, forget the anguish of his travail, 
in the joy of the perfect manifestation of the sons 
of God. 

Of that moment alone could it be said, in the 
full sense of the words, "Or ever I was aw y are," 
or, " I knew not : " but u of that day and hour 
knoweth no man : no, not the angels which are in 
heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" (Mark 
xiii. 32). 

But it will be when the autumnal fruits of the 
Church are fully ripe that the sickle will be put in, 
"because the harvest is come" (Mark iv. 28, 29, 
margin). The Lord Jesus will be in his garden 
inspecting the fruits, when he shall be, as it were, 
transported or carried away " on the chariots of his 
willing people;" and so shall they "ever be with 
the Lord." " In a moment, in the twinkling of an 
eye." — " Or ever I was aware." 

The Daughters of Jerusalem. 

Ver. 13. "Return, return, 0 Shulamite; return, re- 
turn, that we may look upon thee" 



CHAPTER VI. 



159 



The Lord has represented himself as carried 
away with his Bride, and this excites the cry from 
the daughters of Jerusalem. " Return, return, that 
we may look upon thee.' ! Just as in 2 Sam. 
xix. 14, " All the men of Judah sent this word unto 
the king. Return, thou and all thy servants.'' And 
whether the words be taken in reference to the 
whole Church, as caught up to meet the Lord in 
the air, or only to each individual member, as 
caught away in death, it is equally impossible for 
those who are left behind to follow them. 

In vain my fancy strives to paint 
The moment after death," fee, 

They can but long for the manifested glory of 
Christ and his Bride, at his coming again. Then 
each lost one will be found again : then Jesus will 
be -admired'' in and by them (2 Thess. i. 10). 
Then the daughters., the queens, and the concubines 
will at once see. and bless, and praise " the Bride — 
the Lamb's wife : and in looking at each glori- 
fied believer, they will but be looking at Jesus. 
" Return, return, that we may look upon thee" 

For then, if it be asked — 

u What iL'ill ye see in the Shulamite? n 
The answer will be at once given— 

" As it were the company of two armies."' 

Jesus and his Bride are emphatically one ! This 
is " the great mystery " of this blessed book. They 



160 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



are no longer twain, but one ! — for Christians are 
taken into Christ, and their life, which is now " hid 
with Christ in God," shall then be revealed with him 
in glory. 

Oh ! what a wonderful position he has brought 
us into ! Co-kings with Jesus, and even more — for 
we are " the Lamb's wife," the spouse of the Son of 
God — taken into marriage union with him, and 
entering with him, into God! " That they may be 
one, as we are." " Two armies " might be rendered 
" two hosts " (compare Gen. xxxii. 2). Two, in one. 
How sweet to be thus in " the company " of Jesus, 
and to be seen " in " him ! 

" In the Shulamite " shall be seen " as it were 
the company of Mahanain," or two hosts (margin). 
" As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that 
they also may be one in us " (John xvii. 21, 22). 



CHAPTER VII. 



The Daughters of Jerusalem. 

Ver. 1. " How beautiful are thy feet with shoes. 0 
prince's daughter ! " 

There is a change in the form of address in these 
words — -from a bride to a " prince's daughter " — ■ 
rendering it probable that here the daughters of 
Jerusalem are looking at the Bride " in the Shula- 
mite," according to their desire (chap. vi. 13). 
They see in her the daughter of the King of kings, 
the everlasting Father, given to his Son as " the 
Bride, the Lamb's wife." They own her royalty ; 
they admire her beauty. " The King's daughter is 
all glorious within," &c. (Ps. xlv. 10-15), « How 
beautiful are thy feet with shoes, 0 prince's 
daughter ! " " Behold what manner of love the 
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be 
called the sons of God ! " (1 John iii. 1.) " Ye shall 
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty " 
(2 Cor. vi. 18). 

What a precious word it was that was spoken 
by the Lord Jesus, when on earth, to the poor 

L 



162 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



woman who came behind him trembling, "Daughter, 
be of good comfort ! " &c. (Luke viii. 48). How 
wonderful to be owned in such a relation ! and how 
we ought to glory in such a relationship 1 For 
what does not the charter of adoption into God's 
family include ? what are not the children of the 
Most High God entitled to ! " If children, then 
heirs ; heirs of God, and joint heirs ivith Christ ! " 
— They shall " inherit all things " — " All are yours, 
and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's" — "Son. 
thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine " 
(Rom. viii. 17; Hev. xxi. 7 ; 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23; 
Luke xv. 31). 

" It is your Father's good pleasure to give you 
the kingdom," " 0 prince's daughter I " for he 
" hath called you unto his kingdom and glory" 
(Luke xii. 32 ; 1 Thess. ii. 12). 

The Bride is now surveyed from head to foot. 
In chapters iv. and vi. only parts of her person were 
noticed j but she has now advanced to great ma- 
turity of Christian experience, even to perfection, 
to " the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ." Her stature, from the soles of her feet 
to the crown of her head, " is like unto a palm-tree." 
Oh ! what a marvellous change for beggars from the 
dunghill, where, " from the sole of the foot even 
unto the head," we were as a mass of a wounds and 
bruises, and putrifying sores " (Isa. i. 6), to be set 
among princes, and made to inherit the throne of 
glory! (1 Sam. ii. 8.) How it magnifies "the ex- 



CHAPTER VII. 



163 



ceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward 
us through Christ Jesus ! " 

ft How beautiful are thy feet with shoes ! !' — " Your 
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace " 
, (Eph. vi. 15). But the word translated " feet " is 
more correctly rendered " footsteps/ 5 referring rather 
to the ways and goings of the children of God. " The 
steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord/' &c. — 
" To guide our feet into the way of peace " — • • Thy 
word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my 
path" (Ps. xxxvii. 23 ; Luke i. 79 ; Ps. cxix. 105). 

" Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord 
thy God led thee these forty years/' &c. (Deut. viii. 
2). And Jesus is "the way" in whom we have to 
walk. " As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus 
the Lord, so walk ye in him " (Col. ii. 6). "While 
Moses was commanded to put off his shoes, because the 
place whereon he stood was holy ground (Exod. ML), 
we are invited to draw near with boldness, in full as- 
surance of faith, by "a new and living way" — even 
Jesus (Heb. x. 19, &e. ; John xiv. 6). Oh! to 
" walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing ! " Well 
may we pray with David, " Hold up my goings in 
thy paths, that my footsteps slip not"' (Ps. xvii. 5). 

"The joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of 
the hands of a cunning workman!' 

Such is the beautiful symmetry of the Church of 
Christ ! — " The whole body fitly joined together, and 
compacted by that which every joint supplieth " — 



164 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" The head, from which all the body by joints and 
bands having nourishment ministered, inereaseth 
with the increase of God" (Eph. iv. 13-16 ; Col. ii. 
19). u Your loins girt about with truth" (Eph. vi. 
14). "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind" 
—"Your loins girded" (1 Pet. i. 13 ; Luke xii. 35). 
" The joints of thy thighs are like jewels." 

Nor are we to forget the Divine Architect of the 
body so fearfully and wonderfully made (compare 
Ps. cxxxix. 14-16, with Eph. v. 29, 30, 32). All is 
"the work of the hands of a cunning workman." 
" Ye also are builded together for an habitation of 
God through the Spirit* (Eph. ii. 22). 

For as the typical tabernacle could not be reared 
until God had filled Bezaleel " with the Spirit of God, 
in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in all manner of 
workmanship to devise cunning works," &c. (Exod. 
xxxi. 1—5), so it is said of the Lord Jesus, " the 
Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of 
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and 
might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the 
Lord j and shall make him of quick understanding" 
&c. (Isa. xi. 2, 3). For he is the potter who hath 
power over the clay, to fashion it into vessels of 
glory, whereby he may " make known the riches 
of his glory" (Rom. ix. 21, 23). 

Ver. 2. " Thy navel is like a round goblet, which 
wanteth not liquor ; thy belly is like an heap of 
wheat set about with lilies." 



CHAPTER VII. 



165 



The chief thought suggested by these expressions 
is that of great abundance : " A round goblet which 
ivanteth not liquor, and an heap of wheat set about 
with lilies." " Bread shall be given him, his waters 
shall be sure" (Isa. xxxiii. 16). 

This is the promised inheritance of the people of 
the Lord — " a land of brooks of water, of fountains, 
and depths, that spring out of valleys and hills ; a land 
of wheat and barley — a land of oil olive, and honey— a 
land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, 
thou shalt not lack anything in it" (Deut. viii. 7-9). 
Truly indeed, in our " Father's house there is bread 
enough and to spare." 

" He should have fed them also with the finest of 
the wheat" (Ps. lxxxi. 16 ; cxlvii. 14 ; Mat. v. 6 ; 
Jer. xxxi. 14, &c. &c.) 

" 0 fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no 
want to them that fear him. They that seek the 
Lord shall not want any good thing" (Ps. xxxiv. 9, 
10). 

No wonder, therefore, that the language of the 
Bride should be, " My cup runneth over" (Ps. xxiii. 
5). She is " satisfied with favour, Mid full with the 
blessing of the Lord" (Deut. xxxiii. 23)— " Filled 
with comfort"— (( Filled with the Spirit "—Filled 
"with all joy and peace in believing" — " Full of 
goodness, filled with all knowledge " — Yea, " Filled 
with all the fulness of God" (2 Cor. vii. 4 ; Eph. v. 
18; Rom. xv. 13, 14; Eph. iii. 19). 



106 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



Ver. 3. u Thy two breasts are like two young roes 
that are twins." 

The children of one family — " Be ye all of one 
mind, having compassion one of another : love as 
brethren " — " That there be no divisions among yon? 
but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same 
mind, and in the same judgment," even as twins of 
one size and age (1 Pet. iii. 8 ; 1 Cor. i. 10). Such 
should ever be the unity of the Church of Christ, for 
she is, in the figurative language of Scripture, "the 
mother of us all." And, as if to intimate that in 
the heavenly family there is no difference made be- 
tween the elder and the younger children, they are 
represented as " twins," heirs alike of God, and joint 
heirs with Christ. 

Ver. 4. " Thy neck is as a tower of ivory? 

Ivory is in itself exceeding costly and precious, so 
that a tower of it bespeaks a degree of exaltation of 
no ordinary kind. Truly Christians have a high and 
holy calling, and are raised to an extraordinary alti- 
tude of glory, displaying the riches of the King of 
kings, and making known " what is the hope of his 
calling, and what the riches of the glory of his in- 
heritance in the saints" (Eph. i. 18). 

We read that King Solomon made himself a 
throne of ivory (2 Chron. ix. 17), but " the greater 
than Solomon," in the exceeding riches of his grace, 
does more than this, for he raises his Bride to share 
his throne (Bev. iii. 21). Believers may learn from 



CHAPTER VII. 



167 



this figure something of the exalted position they are 
destined to fill in glory — " thy neck is as a tower of 
ivory." 

" Thine eyes like the fish-pools in Heshbon, by the 
gate of Bath-rabbim." 

The import of this figure seems to be the setting 
forth of clearness and transparency of character — 
" If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full 
of light" (Matt. vi. 22). There must be a holy 
sincerity about God's people — no darkness, but 
transparent clearness — % light in the Lord " (Eph. v. 
8). This is a point much dwelt upon in the heavenly 
Jerusalem, the figurative representation of " the 
Bride the Lamb's wife " — " her light was like unto a 
stone most precious . . clear as crystal." " And the 
city was pure gold, like unto clear glass, and as it 
were transparent glass" (Eev. xxi. 9-11, 18, 21 j see 
also Eev. iv. 6). " And before the throne there was 
a sea, of glass like unto crystal." We should there- 
fore seek to be " sincere and without offence," cleansed 
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, " sprinkled 
from an evil conscience — washed with pure water," 
doing the will of our God, not with eye-service, " but 
in singleness of heart" (Phil. i. 10 j 2 Cor. vii. 1 ; 
Heb. x. 22). " Mine eyes are ever toward the 
Lord " (Ps. xxv. 15). 

" Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon, ivhich looketh 
toward Damascus." 



168 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



From a tower situated on the heights of Leba- 
non the eye would readily survey the surrounding 
country in the plains below ; and it is scarcely 
possible to conceive a figure more strikingly calcu- 
lated to represent the state of mind which has been 
so beautifully described as the true character of the 
Christian's walk. " not looking up from earth to 
heaven, but down from heaven to earth." 

And if (as is commonly supposed) Damascus is 
mentioned as the enemies' land, our duty is plainly 
pointed out as exercising habitual, constant watch- 
fulness against our spiritual enemies — " Thy nose is 
as the tower of Lebanon, which looketh toward 
Damascus." 

The watchman must be ever on the alert to give 
the alarm on the first appearance of the enemy, and 
the Christian must be ready to wage perpetual war 
against the first risings of the flesh, the world, or 
the devil. 

Ver. 5. " Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and 
the hair of thine head like purple." 

The word " Carmel " is rendered " crimson " in 
the margin ; and, if this be the correct translation, 
the idea suggested would be that of royalty, of which 
purple and crimson were the ordinary representa- 
tives. The Church of Christ is, therefore, set forth 
as the Bride of the King of kings — sharing his 
throne, and reigning with him. This is her pur- 
chased privilege. He hath " made us unto our God 



CHAPTER VII. 



169 



kings and priests," and we shall " reign on the earth " 
(Rev. i. 6, and v. 10), even "for ever and ever" 
(Rev. xxii. 5). 

But if Carmel be intended, the idea is rather that 
of richness, fertility, and profusion (see Isa. xxxv. 
2 ; Mic. vii. 14). In either case, the magnificence 
and exceeding excellence of this " glorious Church " 
is displayed; and our earnest care, as individual 
members of it, ought to be to bear fruit in this rich 
profusion — not thirty-fold only, nor sixty-fold, but 
a hundred-fold ! 

" The Icing is held in the galleries ." 

The royal Bride detains the King, and will not 
let him go. He is bound to dwell in his house, 
" whose house are we" The word " galleries " is 
the same with that in chap. ii. 17, " the rafters" — 
" The beams of our house are cedar, and the rafters 
of fir." For " the tabernacle of God is with men, 
and he will dwell with them " (Rev. xxi. 3). 
Throughout eternity the King will be bound in the 
galleries of his Church, just as he is now under a 
blessed constraint to abide with us, because he has 
said, iC I will never leave thee." He cannot leave 
his Bride, for they are one. He dwells in the midst 
of us, and in each one of us, making sinners' hearts 
his royal palace ! 

Oh ! what a cluster of privileges is here grouped 
together as belonging to the children of God's royal 
family (the " prince's daughter "), and all coming to 



170 



THE SONG OF SOLOMOX. 



them as reclaimed prodigals returning to their 
Father's house ! 

They are. first, clothed with " the best robe/' the 
marriage " ring " is placed on their hand, " and shoes 
on their feet" (Luke xv. 22). " How beautiful are 
thy feet with shoes 1 " 

Second, They are all " fitly framed and joined 
together," speaking oftentimes one to another, that 
they may be the Lord's in the day when he makes 
up his jewels (Mai. iii. 16, 17). " The joints of thy 
thighs are like jewels." 

Third, They find abundance of the best provisions 
— " bread enough and to spare." They are con- 
tinually feasting by faith upon the body broken and 
the blood shed, which is " meat indeed, and drink 
indeed" (compare John vi. 55 with ver 2). " A 
heap of wheat — a round goblet that wanteth not 
liquor." 

Fourth, They are all alike the children of one 
Father, the heirs of the same inheritance — their 
hearts being " hut together in love," in strong family 
affection, and "unity of spirit" — having " one 
Lord, one faith," " one God and Father." " As 
twins." 

Fifth, They are raised to an exceeding height of 
glory — pressing toward the mark for the prize of 
their high calling in Christ Jesus. Their hearts being 
continually called " thither to ascend, where their 
Saviour, Christ, is gone before," and their affections 
being set "on things above, and not on things on 



CHAPTER VIT. 



171 



the earth " (Col. iii. 1, 2). " Thy neck is as a tower 
of ivory." 

Sixth, There is a lovely reflection of the Father's 
image in them ; even " as in water face answer eth to 
face I" "Beholding as in a glass the glory of the 
Lord, are changed into the same image " (2 Cor. iii. 
18), and become holy as he is holy, purifying them- 
selves even as he is pure, knowing that soon they 
will be perfectly like him, for they will " see him as 
he is." But even now they are the sons of God 
(1 John iii. 1-3) — "children of light" full of holy 
transparency and sincerity. " Thine eyes like the 
fishpools," cfcc. 

Seventh, They set themselves, like Habakkuk, on 
their " watch-tower," jealously to guard the approach 
of every enemy, and diligently obeying their Lord's 
command to "watch" (Mark xiii. 37 j Hab. ii. 1) — 
looking down upon earthly things, whilst their con- 
versation, their citizenship, is in heaven. " Thy nose 
is as the tower of Lebanon," &c. (ver. 4). 

Eighth, They " bring forth much fruit " to the 
glory of God, so that he compares them to " the 
excellency of CarmeV (Isa. xxxv. 2) — not content 
with low and ordinary attainments, but clothed in 
royal apparel, in purple and crimson, as became a 
"prince's daughter" (ver. 5). 

Oh to " walk worthy " of this our regal station ! 
Then our footsteps would indeed be "beautiful;" 
for our walk would be God's walk in us, as it is 
written, " I will dwell in them, and walk in them." 



172 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



The King walking in the galleries of his Church, 
is held therein. 

Ver. 6. " How fair and how pleasant art thou, 0 
love, for delights ! " 

No wonder, after such a view of the Bride of 
Christ, that the daughters of Jerusalem should ex- 
claim how fair and pleasant she appeared. They 
have surveyed her from head to foot, and her whole 
person is commended by them — " Thy feet, thy 
thighs, thy navel, thy belly, thy two breasts, thy 
neck, thine eyes, thy nose, thy head," yea, even 
" the hair of thine head " (or, as the word is in the 
original, " the smallest thing "). All, from the least 
to the greatest, set forth her beauty. And thus the 
Church of Christ, the Bride of Jesus, displays the 
marvellous skill of the " cunning workman," so fear- 
fully and wonderfully is she made, and so " curiously 
wrought" (Ps. cxxxix. 14-16). tf Thine eyes did 
see my substance, yet being imperfect ; and in thy 
book all my members were written, ivhich in continu- 
ance were fashioned, when as yet there was none 
of them." " The work of the hands of a cunning 
workman." 

But if each believer, as he ripens for heaven, be- 
comes individually an object of admiration and de- 
light to Jesus, how much more will the perfected 
body in glory shew forth his praise ! Then not one 
member will be wanting, but all shall have been 
"fashioned," and the stature of the "perfect man" 



CHAPTER VII. 



173 



attained. Every member will be there, down to the 
humblest and feeblest lamb in Christ's fold. Yea, 
from the feet to the head, from the lowest member, 
gradually mounting up to the highest, " every one oj 
them n is set in the body as it hath pleased God (1 Cor. 
xii. 18, &c.) " How fair and how pleasant art thou, 
0 love, for delights ! " 

Jehovah rejoiced, in like manner, over the works 
of creation, as he successively beheld each day's 
work, and saw that it was u very good : " and when 
at length the six clays' work was ended, he looked 
down from heaven and u saw everything that he had 
made, and behold it was very good" (Gen. i. 31). 
And shall not the joy of the new creation, the per- 
fecting of the saints, the ending of the six thousand 
years' patient labour of the Heavenly Husbandman, 
yield him yet greater delight I For when the sin- 
ners are consumed out of the earth, and the millen- 
nial Sabbath shall commence, then " the glory of the 
Lord shall endure for ever : the Lord shall rejoice m 
his ivories"' (Ps. civ, 30, 31). Then it shall be said 
to the earthly Jerusalem, U: He will rejoice over thee 
with joy : he will rest in his love ; he will joy over 
thee with singing; 5 ' and "Ye shall be a delightsome 
land!'' (Zeph. hi. 17; Mai. iii. 12). And to the 
heavenly Jerusalem, - how fair and how pleasant art 
thou, 0 love, for delights!" (Rev. xxi. 9, kc.) 

Yer. 7. " Thus thy stature is Wee to a pedm-tree, and 
thy breasts to clusters of grapes" 



174 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" The righteous shall nourish like the palm-tree " 
(Ps. xcii. 12). "The ivy creeps, and the bramble 
trails, but the palm, in perpendicular uprightness, 

dwells on high, and seeks the things above 

Some trees are crooked, but the palm is straight; 
and, standing forth in its unbending altitude, it 

spreads all its foliage to the sun It is not 

only erect and tall, its stem is fair and even. It is 
a tree of remarkable beauty. Apart from all its as- 
sociations, there is something in its slim uprightness, 
its verdant canopy, and the silvery flashes of its 
waving plumes, which glads the eye that gazes." 

Such is the tree to which the Church of Christ 
is likened. " This thy stature is like to a palm- 
tree " — tall, erect, and fruitful. But which of us 
has attained to it ? Let us forget the things which 
are behind, and be ever reaching forth unto those 
things which are before — pressing toward the mark 
of our high calling. Let us leave the low and 
stunted attainments of those who are but laying 
again the foundations of the principles of the doc- 
trines of Christ, and let us " go on unto perfection " 
(Heb. vi. 1). 

" Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin 
which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with 
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto 
Jesus" for we should be contented with no lesser 
standard. He has run his race, and " is set down at 
the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb. xii. 1, 
2) ? a beautiful example for us to follow ! 



CHAPTER VTI. 



175 



The palm-tree is constantly referred to in Scrip- 
ture as the emblem of victory (see Lev. xxiii. 40 ; 
John xii. 13 ; and Kev. vii. 9). The saints in glory, 
who are set down with Jesus in his throne (Eev. iii, 
21, and iv. 6), are " clothed with white robes, and 
palms in their hands." Then, emphatically, it will 
be true of us, that " we are more than conquerors 
through him that loved us" (Eom. viii. 37). 

Nor is this all ; for it is added, " and thy breasts 
like clusters of grapes." " I am the vine, ye are 
the branches," All the " fruits of righteousness are 
by Jesus Christ/' &c. (Phil. i. 11). Every bough, 
therefore, should be bringing forth fruit by abiding 
in him ; and in " clusters,'' 1 not sparingly, that our 
heavenly Father may be glorified (John xv. 1-8.) 
By our fruits we shall be known : for grapes cannot 
be gathered of thorns — a corrupt tree cannot bring 
forth good fruit (Matt. vii. 16-20). If there be, 
therefore, " clusters of grapes " in any believer, it 
proves him to be grafted into Christ. 

Yer. 8. " / said, I will go up to the palm-tree, I 
will take hold of the boughs thereof; now cdso thy 
breasts shall he as clusters of the vine, and the 
smell of thy nose like apples!'" 

The daughters of Jerusalem are no longer con- 
tent to gaze upon the Bride of Jesus, as it were at a 
distance : " I will go up to the palm-tree, 1 will take 
hold of the boughs thereof." Exalted as she is, and 
high as is her stature, they resolve to " go up " and 



176 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" take hold " of her. There is something very for- 
cible in this language, for the branches of the palm 
grow near the top of the tree, leaving the stem bare 
for a considerable height * so that to H take hold of 
the boughs thereof" implies the determination to 
press towards the mark of her high calling. It was 
a blessed resolution ; and the result of the commu- 
nion thus enjoyed was very sweet and refreshing. 
" Now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the 
vine." " That ye may suck and be satisfied with 
the breasts of her consolations . . . and be delighted 
with the abundance of her glory" (Isa. Ixvi. 11). 
We are beautifully reminded from whom her fruit 
is found (Hos. xiv. 8), " Clusters of the vine-' for 
grapes derive all their sweetness from the vine, and 
Jesus says, il I am the true vine." Whatever the 
Church has. she has in virtue of her union with the 
Lord Jesus Christ, her u beloved." 

(< And the smell of thy nose like apples ; " like 
the fruit of that " apple-tree " to which Christ was 
likened in chapter ii. 3. There should be a holy 
fragrance around the children of God, that all may 
take knowledge of them that they have been with 
Jesus (Acts iv. 13). 

Yer. 9. u And the roof of thy mouth like the best 
vjine for my beloved, that goeth dov:n sweetly, 
causing the lips of those that are asleep to speal:.'' 

Such should be the vivifying, refreshing, and 
quickening influence of the words uttered by every 



CHAPTEE VII. 



177 



child of God — quickening to those who are " dead 
in trespasses and sins ; " and reviving to such of 
the Lord's people as are in a dull, languishing, 
slumbering state. Words spoken for his sake, are 
v words spoken for him, which he takes as to himself, 
and they are sweet to him. If, then, "a cup of 
cold water " given to one of his little ones in his 
name, is so graciously owned and accepted of 
him (Matt. x. 42), how much more "the best 
wine ! " 

" The best wine " may have some future allusion 
to the feast in the kingdom, of which the Lord has 
said, " I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, 
until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of 
God" (Mark xiv. 25). But of those times very little 
is revealed to us in Scripture — " the day shall de- 
clare it." In the meantime, it is for us to seek 
the simple, practical, spiritual meaning of the words ; 
and deeply humbling indeed it is to understand 
them so little, and to have attained to so very little 
of " the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ ! " 

The Bride. 

Yer. 10. " / am my beloved's, and his desire is to- 
ward me." 

The Bride is now heard to speak again, but it is 
in that advanced stage of Christian experience, which 
looks not so much at her own things, as at the things 

M 



178 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



of others. There is a very evident difference dis- 
cernible in her experience onwards to the end of the 
book. The spring, the summer, and the autumnal 
seasons have been passed through, and we have now 
the matured and ripened believer brought before us, 
full of earnest desire for the good of others. 

" I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me." 
This is the language of strong, unhesitating confi- 
dence in God • the well-assured, deliberate convic- 
tion of the mind. It is most blessed experience to 
blow ourselves thus to be the Lord's ; and it is a 
lesson to be learnt, through " manifold temptations 
for the trial of our faith " (such, for instance, as the 
Bride had gone through, in chapters iii. and v. of 
this book). But when we are tried we shall come 
forth as gold, " in full assurance of faith/' " nothing 
wavering:" able to say with David, "I am thy 
servant " — " 0 Lord, truly I am thy servant " — " I 
am thine-, save me" (Ps. cxix. 94, 125 ; Ps. cxvi. 
16). 

This full assurance becomes to the child of God 
the same sure ground for expecting safety and divine 
keeping, as it was to God's well-beloved Son, when, 
in pleading with his Father in behalf of his people, 
he urges this plea — " I pray for them, .... for 
they are thine " (John xvii. 9). " I am my beloved's." 

There is something very sweet in the feeling that 
we are the property and possession of Jesus — i( my 
beloved's" — his own " purchased possession" (Eph. 
i. 14). Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with 



CHAPTER VII. 



179 



a price ; therefore glorify God in your body and in 
your spirit which are God's" (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20). 
Body, soul, and spirit, all are his! " I," that is, I 
myself, " am my beloved's : " all I have, and all I am 
; — his purchased property. " Whether we live, 
therefore, or die, we are the Lord's" (Rom. xiv. 
7, 8). 

Nor is this all ; for there is, on the other hand, no 
doubting of Christ's affection in return ; " and his 
desire is toward me." " Perfect love casteth out 
fear," and in the exercise of ardent love towards her 
Beloved, the Bride rested in the full assurance of his 
love to her. He had given the strongest proof of it, 
in that he had laid down his life for her ! And 
over and over again he had manifested the yearning 
" desire" of his heart towards her. On one occa- 
sion he declared that he was " straitened" until bap- 
tized with the baptism of death for his people (Luke 
xii. 50) : on another, he wejpt over Jerusalem, with 
the <: desire" he felt for its salvation (Luke xix. 41, 
42 ; Matt, xxiii. 37) : his bowels yearned over Eph- 
raim, when he heard him bemoaning himself, &q. 
(Jer. xxxi. 20) : to his disciples at the last passover, 
he expressed himself with the deepest intensity of 
feeling, saying, " With desire I have desired to eat 

I this passover with you before I suffer ; " or, as it is 
in the margin, " I have heartily desired '' (Luke xxii. 

i 15) : and in his last prayer he seems, as it were, to 
sum up all his desires for his people, saying to his 
"Father, " I pray for them," &c. (fee. ; until at length 



180 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



he almost ceases to pray as a suppliant, saying, 
" Father, I will/' &c. (John xvii.) 

So earnest was he in our behalf ! Nor is this all ; 
he even lives to make intercession for us still — 
(Heb. vii. 25) — ever breathing out his desires in 
behalf of his Church into his Father's ear, "until 
the shadows flee away" and the day come, when the 
whole being perfected in glory, " he shall see of the 
travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." 

" So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty." 
" All the invitations of the gospel may be regarded 
as the desires of the heavenly suitor." — Mrs Stevens. 

There is yet much comfort to be derived from 
the personal appropriation of these truths, as here 
expressed. "J am my beloved's, and his desire is 
toward me:" each individual member is to realise 
this for himself. If Christ loves the flock, he loves 
every sheep, " What man, having an hundred sheep, 
if he lose one, doth not ... go after that which is 
lost?" &c. (Luke xv. 4 3 &c.) " His desire is towards 
me." "Who loved me } and gave himself for me'* 
(Gal. ii. 20). 

Such is the happy and assured confidence of the 
well-established Christian. He is not like " a wave 
of the sea driven with the wind and tossed" (Jas. 
i. 6), for he knows whom he has believed (2 Tim. i. 
12), even " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and 
to-day, and for ever." 

The verse may be rendered, " I am my beloved's, 
because his affection is toward me." — Rowbotham. 



CHAPTER VII. 



181 



Ver. 11. " Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the 
field, let us lodge in the villages" 

The Bride has learnt now to forsake the company 
of the nearest and dearest, for the sake of Jesns. 
" Let us go forth into the fields/' is the breathing 
of her soul into the ear of Jesus, expressive of the 
deep longing she felt for that deep, and close, and 
intimate communion which could be realised only 
in retirement. 

She would therefore (l go forth" — she would leave 
" the city," the public ordinances, the busy, active 
scenes of daily life, and the society of the dearest 
earthly friends, and with her Beloved alone she 
would "go forth into the fields." 

There is great blessedness in being thus for a 
season alone with Jesus. The Lord himself was wont, 
when on earth, to withdraw with his disciples from 
the multitude at certain seasons, as in Mark vi. 31, 
" Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, 
and rest a while." He does not say, Go and live in 
the desert, separate yourselves altogether from your 
fellow-creatures, and abide in seclusion. God for- 
bid ! He would have them as lights in the vjorld, as 
messengers to prepare his way before him, as icitnesses 
of his truth in the midst of an ungodly generation. 

But, in order to shine brightly, the lamp must be 
trimmed; in order to catch men, the nets must be 
mended; and, in order to teach others, ice must be 
taught. J^ay, more, for, in order to our own growth 
in grace, and our own personal preparation for the 



182 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



presence of the Lord, we need much secret dis- 
cipline, much secret intercourse with our Father 
which seeth in secret, and much secret commu- 
nion with the Beloved of our souls. Hence the 
manifold means made use of for our withdrawment 
from this vain, transitory world, from time to time. 
Too often, alas ! the child of God is apt to mur- 
mur and repine on being withdrawn from active 
service and the public ordinances (it may be by 
illness, &c. &c), to be taught of Jesus in secret; 
but the Bride had attained to more of the mind of 
Christ ; for she herself desires it. She would not 
make it necessary (if one may so speak) that the 
Lord should lay his chastening hand upon her, to 
bring her there ; but her own soul sighs for this 
close communion with him. 

Those who have once tasted of its sweetness will 
oftentimes be willing to forego the society of all 
other beloveds, for that of the Beloved — the one, the 
only one, who can enter into the very inmost re- 
cesses of the heart. If we are very closely united 
to Jesus, we shall pant after this secret intimacy, 
which is not to be enjoyed in the society even of 
fellow-Christians. " Come, my beloved, let us go 
forth into the field." 

But the expression that follows intimates the 
temporary nature of this sweet enjoyment : " let us 
lodge in the villages." 66 For here we have no con- 
tinuing city f we are but strangers and pilgrims, 
tarrying or lodging for the night. 



CHAPTER VII. 



183 



We have a beautiful instance of precisely similar 
feeling in our Lord when on earth (for the same 
Spirit dwelt in him and actuated him then, which 
now dwells in and actuates his Bride), leading him 
to withdraw from the busy city, and lodge in the 
quiet village. For we read, that after his public 
entrance into Jerusalem and his ministrations in 
the temple, " he left them, and went out of the city, 
into Bethany; and he lodged there" (Matt. xxi. 17); 
there, in quiet, peaceful retirement, to hold com- 
munion with the family whom he loved (John xi. 
h 5). 

The word translated " lodge " may also be ren- 
dered to remain or continue. But in either case 
the intent of the passage is, that the Bride longed 
to be retired from the trouble and distractions of 
the flesh, and to walk into the field of heavenly 
meditation and delight. 

Ver. 12. " Let us get up early to the vineyards; let 
us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape 
appear, and the pomegranates bud forth" 

It was not to indulge in carnal ease or senstial 
enjoyment that the Bride had sought retirement 
with Jesus. On the contrary, that season of com- 
munion was the means of quickening her to renewed 
earnestness and more diligent watchfulness — " Let 
i us get up early to the vineyards." " While we have 
time, let us do good unto all men." " Work while 
it is called to-day." Like our blessed Saviour, let 



184 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



us learn to rise up early in the morning. " a great 
"while before day " (Mark i. 35). " Let us get up 
early to the vineyards." 

And let us remember to go to no work alone, 
without Jesus — " let us go." jSTever let us go to 
inspect the vineyards save in company with him. 

" To the vineyards.'- This is just as it should 
be ; there is first a holy concern for her own well- 
being, and then afterwards for the welfare of others 
(see chap, viii.) She would look to her own state 
before God. " Let us see if the vine flourish/' kc. 
This intimates diligence and watchfulness. " Look 
to yourselves that we lose not those things which 
we have wrought" (2 John 8). a Give diligence 
to make your calling and election sure : " " for if 
these things be in you and abound, they make you 
that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful/' <kc. 
(2 Pet. i. 8, 10; margin, "idle"). The contrast 
is very precious from the present experience of the 
Bride to her early experience, in chap. i. 6. Then 
she confessed—"' but mine own vineyard have I 
not kept." Xow she can get up early to see that 
the vine is flourishing, and the grape opening (mar- 
gin). Thus there is real growth in grace manifested 
in her. There is likewise a beautiful reflection of 
the Spirit of Jesus in her. Precisely what he had 
gone down into his garden to do (chap. vi. 11), she 
would now " get up early to the vineyards " to do. 

But it is observable that the evidences here 
sought after are not to prove that she is in Christ ; 



CHAPTER VII. 



185 



they are for the fruits "which are to be found in 
Christians. The Bride looks for fruitfulness " in 
the vineyards.'' not in the barren wilderness. There 
cannot be such fruits in the soul but newly con- 
verted : they are only to be found in the trees that 
have been digged about (Luke xiii. 8) 3 and in the 
branches that have been pruned and purged (John 
xv. 2). This is a truth of great importance, though 
but seldom thought of. And hence the young be- 
liever is oftentimes led to great questionings whether 
he is a believer or not. although the question of 
fruitfulness scarcely belongs to him. How vain for a 
soul to be seeking -''the tender grape/' when it has no 
assurance of being a branch of " the vine! " Xo — it 
is when we are brought to say, " I am my beloved's/' 
(ire. that it becomes us to see that such & profession 
stands the test of bearing fruit J (Matt vii. 17.) 

" There will I give thee my loves." 

" There M — that is. in the free and unfettered 
communion which the Bride enjoyed with Jesus in 
solitude would be the open manifestation of the 
overflowings of her love, which was in measure kept 
in restraint in the presence of others. Just as 
Joseph, in the intensity of his love towards his 
brethren, sought his chamber where he might weep 
unseen, so it is in retirement that we can alone pour 
out our whole souls to Jesus. In like manner, when 
David and Jonathan would embrace and kiss one 
another, they not only retired into " the field " 



186 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



without the city, but even waited until the lad that 
carried the arrows " was gone ; " and " then they 
kissed one another, and wept one with another, 
until David exceeded " (1 Sam. xx. 35, 41). 
Beautiful type of Christ, the true David, the 
beloved of his Bride! " There," she exclaims, 
" there will I give thee my loves ! " 

u Loves " is in the plural in the Hebrew, to shew 
the abundance and excellency of it. It is not simply 
love, but the highest degree, the excess, the over- 
flowings of love ! 

Yer. 13. " The mandrakes give a smell, and at our 
gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and 
old, which I have laid up for thee, 0 my beloved," 

These words may either be taken as the con- 
tinued language of the Bride, or as the answer of 
Christ to her invitation to inspect her fruitfulness 
(ver. 11, 12). 

If the Bride is still speaking, her words evidence 
a very advanced stage of Christian experience, that 
she should be able to make such a declaration in 
the spirit of humility — " At our gates are all manner 
of pleasant fruits ! " But all idea of merit or self- 
exaltation is at once disclaimed in the following words 
— "which I have laid up for thee, 0 my beloved." 

It is very certain that every development of the 
fruits of the Spirit in the Lord's people, and every 
act performed for his sake, is as treasure laid up 
in heaven for the Lord of the harvest. There is 



CHAPTER VH. 



187 



no other allusion in Scripture to a believer's lav- 
ing up for Christ When we are exhorted to <: lay 
up/' it is for ourselves — as in 1 Tim. vi. 18, 19 ; Matt, 
vi. 20, and six. 21 — for we are receiving out of 
Christ's fulness only sufficient grace for daily use. 
(The laying up the tithe of increase every third 
year, in Deut. xiv. 28, was a ministering to the need 
of others, " the Levite, the stranger, and the father- 
less," rather than a laying up for the Lord. And 
it is the only other instance where the expression 
occurs). 

It seems, therefore, more probable that the words 
are to be taken as Christ's reply to his Bride, 
most graciously owning and accepting the sweet 
fragrance he met with in his inspection of the vine- 
yards — " The mandrakes give a smell." 

But, as if he would give her no room for resting 
in present attainments, and lest she should be satis- 
fied with the sweetness of such holy experience in 
this life, he immediately directs her to look yet 
higher, adding, "And at our gates are all manner 
of pleasant fruits, which I have laid up for thee, 0 
my beloved." 

There is much yet " laid up. 5 ' " 0 how great is 
the goodness which thou hast laid up for them that 
fear thee ! " as well as that " which thou hast 
wrought before the sons of men!" (Ps. xxxi. 19). 
" There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness/' 
kc. (2 Tim. iv. 8). Much is revealed to us now in 
sweet foretastes, through the indwelling of the Spirit 



138 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



of God (1 Cor. ii. 9, 10), but the full enjoyment of 
all is " laid up" " reserved in heaven " for us, to be 
known only in his presence where there is "fulness 
of joy ! " 

Then, when we " enter in through the gates into 
the city" (Eev. xxii. 14), what wonders we shall 
know of that " light which no man can approach 
unto ; " of that glory which " no man hath seen or 
can see ; " and of that kingdom which "flesh and 
blood cannot inherit ! 55 for there is " laid up 51 for us 
there, "all manner of pleasant fruits.'' "Fulness 
of joy — pleasures for evermore" (Ps. xvi. 11). 
"Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy 
pleasures ! " (Ps. xxxvi. 8.) Truly a glorious harvest 
is laid up for us in that heavenly garner, " where 
neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where 
thieves do not break through and steal." 

There is yet one more thought of exceeding pre- 
ciousness in the personal appropriation of all this 
—"for thee, 0 my beloved." Yes, for me! may 
every member of Christ's mystical body exclaim — 
" He loved me, and gave himself for me;'' and if he 
is mine, all things are mine ! it is all " laid up " for 
vie! 

" Most wondrous joys he lets us know, 
In fields and villages below ; 
Gives us a relish of his love — 
But keeps his noblest feast above ! 

" In Paradise within the gates, 
A higher entertainment waits, 
Fruits,* new and old, laid up in store, 
Where we shall feed, but thirst no more." — Watts. 
* Lev. xxvi. 10. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



The Bride. 

Ver. 1. " 0 that thou wert as my brother, that 
sucked the breasts of my mother I " 

It seems so unlikely, towards the close of a book of 
Christian experience such as this, in the matured 
development of the Christian life, and after such 
strong and unhesitating language has been used of 
a relationship still closer than a brother s, that the 
Church should now exclaim with regard to Christ, 
" 0 that thou wert as my brother ! " that it is far 
more reasonable to understand these words in refer- 
ence to those who were " without " the vineyards 
which the Bride had been inspecting. From within 
that sacred enclosure, her eyes would rest on "the 
waste howling wilderness," in which were many 
who were yet strangers to God; and in the overflow- 
ings of a heart of love, which beat in unison with 
that of Jesus when He looked down from heaven with 
a pitying eye upon a world of rebels, she would 



190 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



be constrained to exclaim, " 0 that thou wert as my 
brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother ! " 
She would earnestly desire for them that they were 
brought into the same family, as children of the 
same Father, and partakers of the same new birth 
with herself (the Holy Spirit being always under- 
stood, throughout the book, as the divine author of 
the new birth, under the term " mother "), and thus 
made with her to be brethren in the holy fellowship 
of the gospel. 

This yearning desire after those who are " with- 
out," is only that reflecting of the Lord's love which 
is to be looked for in all who are vitally united to 
him. Do we not hear him say, " 0 Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy 
children together ! " &c. And again, " 0 that there 
were such an heart in them ! " &c. (Matt, xxiii. 37; 
Dent. v. 29). It was in this spirit that so soon as 
Andrew had found Jesus, he sought his brother 
Simon, and " brought him to Jesus " (John i. 41, 42); 
and that Philip immediately afterwards invited 
Nathanael to " come and see " him also (ver. 4o, 46). 
It was in the same spirit that St Paul declared he 
could wish himself accursed from Christ for his 
brethren, &c. (Rom. ix. 3), and that he was con- 
stantly in prayer "night and day" to bring his 
fellow-sinners to Jesus. The far-advanced believer 
having drank deeply into Christ's love, manifests 
proportionably his own love to others. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



191 



" When I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; 
yea, I should not be despised." 

Thus most beautifully following in the track of her 
Beloved, who, when he saw the returning prodigal yet 
" afar off/' ran to meet him, and fell on his neck 
and kissed him ! (Luke xv. 20.) Jesus had dealt 
thus with her, for she was once at a distance from 
him, and she would, therefore, now " kiss " those 
whom she found " without," " a great way off." 
Nor would her labour be in vain in the Lord — 

Yea, I should not be despised." 

Oh for more of this loving, earnest yearning of 
spirit after those who are yet " without ! " " Let us 
consider one another to provoke unto love and to 
good works." It was thus the Bride delighted to 
act. " Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves 
together, . . . but exhorting one another ; and so 
much the more as ye see the day approaching" 
(Heb. x. 24, 25). She would fain have others to be 
sharers of her joys. 

Ver. 2. " I would lead thee, and bring thee into 
my mother's house" 

I would not leave thee to perish, like the priest 
and the Levite in the parable, passing by on the 
other side (Luke x.), but I would seek to bring thee 
to the ordinances and the dwelling-place of my 
Beloved. 1 would lead thee into fellowship of spirit 
with myself. 

Are we afraid to speak thus, and to say, " I would 



192 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



lead thee/' &c? Alas ! too often the believer is 
heard coldly affirming, " I cannot convert such an 
one ; it is a work 7" have nothing to do with j I 
must leave that to God/' &c. &c. Truly, of himself 
he is " not sufficient " for these things ; u but our 
sufficiency is of God." We do not go alone to the 
work. Wherever we go, we take Christ with us ; 
" for we are one with Christ, and Christ with us." 
If we speak, it is not we that speak, but the Spirit 
of our Father which speaketh in us (Matt. x. 20). 
If we win souls to Jesus, it is because the Father 
draws them (John vi. 44). If we seek, as Andrew 
did, to lead an unconverted brother to Jesus, why 
should we not, as he did, " bring him to Jesus 

Surely it is that we do not realise our oneness 
with Christ in these things, or we should not have 
" so little faith." We, independently of him, could 
do nothing ; but he in us must accomplish God's 
purpose of love towards them who are " without." 

" Who would instruct me." 

Here lay the secret of her success : she was taught 
of the Spirit, whose special office it is to " teach us 
all things," and to " guide us into all truth " (John 
xvi. 13, and xiv. 26). " The Holy Ghost shall 
teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say " 
(Luke xii. 12). It was thus with Stephen — "a man 
full of the Holy Ghost ; " " they were not able to 
resist , . . the Spirit by which he spake" (Acts vi. 
5, 10). 



CHAPTER VIII. 



193 



Even the Lord Jesus was himself thus instructed 
" how to speak a word in season," (fee. (Isa. 1. 4, 
and xi. 2, 3). Learn then, believer, that if your 
body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in 
you, ye are to seek, u in the power of his might," to 
lead others to a like participation of the new birth. 
" I would lead thee," fcc. 

" I icould cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the 
juice of my pomegranate" 

We must not even be content to bring them into 
the fold, but we must let them share our pasture. 
We must impart willingly to them of the " bread 
enough and to spare " of our Father s house. For if the 
multitude of five thousand were still to be fed, there 
would still be " baskets of fragments " to take up. 
Thus (in Acts xviii. 25, 26) we read that Apollos 
being " instructed in the way of the Lord, . . . spake 
and taught diligently the things of the Lord." But 
Aquila and Priscilla were farther advanced ; and, in 
the spirit of the Bride, " they took him unto them, 
and expounded unto him the way of God more per- 
fectly ; " thus making him to drink of their " spiced 
wine." 

All this is a yet further reflection of the mind of 
Christ ; for does he not say, " I have drunk my wine 
with my milk : eat, 0 friends ; drink, yea, drink 
abundantly, 0 beloved" ? (chap. v. 1); "Come, drink 
of the wine which I have mingled " (Prov. ix. o). 
Then is it most fitting in his Bride to say likewise, 

N 



194 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" I would cause thee to drink of the spiced wine of 
the juice of my pomegranate/' Just what the literal 
Israel were required to do literally, is required of 
the spiritual seed spiritually. " Thou shalt furnish 
him (thy brother) liberally . . . out of thy floor and 
out of thy wine press : of that wherewith the Lord 
thy God hath blessed thee, thou shalt give unto 
him" (Deut. xv. 14). 

Let us, then, invite others to share the precious 
feast of good things, of which we have been made 
partakers, saying. " Come with us, and we will do 
thee good; and what goodness the Lord shall do to 
us, the same will we do to thee" (Numb. x. 29, 32). 
For there need be no selfishness among Christians, 
so long as there is " a Fountain of living waters " to 
draw from. Nay, " he that watereth shall be 
watered also himself." For "there is that scatter- 
eth, and yet increaseth " (Prov. xi. 24, 25). 

Ver. 3. " His left hand should be under my head, 
and his right hand should embrace me. 11 

Beautiful picture of the soul peacefully resting in 
the arms and on the bosom of Jesus ! It seems to 
be the utterance of the Bride, revelling, as it were, in 
the sweet consciousness of her nearness, her closeness 
to Christ, rendered more sweet by the contrast of 
those who were " afar off." 

Thrice blessed repose ! " His left hand should be 
under my head, and his right hand should embrace 
me." The words seem to imply more than the 



CHAPTER VIII. 



mere actual present experience of it, for there is 
also the resting in the calm assurance that so it 
" should be."" It was a privilege she claimed as her 
own. She had experienced it before, and she would 
do so yet again. She would feel his hand embracing 
her, and keeping her within his own sacred enclosure. 

It was in the mother's house now, as it had 
been in the banqueting house before, that she had 
been brought to this holy exercise of a leaning on 
her beloved" (chap. ii. 4). But she was then 
brought there, as it were, alone ; all her care and 
concern was about herself : now, she is seen there 
in company, as it were, with others whom she has 
led thither to share her wine. 

Then, too, in the warmth of " first love," the 
manifestations of Christ were overwhelming to her 
soul—" I am sick of love," she exclaimed ; u stay 
me with flagons" (chap. ii. 5). But now there is 
the holy calmness which characterises the more 
matured believer, sweetly resting in the arms of 
Jesus, not with less confidence and holy assurance 
of soul, but without that ecstatic frame of mind. 
It is always thus that, in the development of that 
faith " which worketh by love," we learn to " look 
also on the things of others," as we go ourselves 
" from strength to strength." 

Christ. 

Ver. 4. " i" charge you, 0 daughters of Jerusalem, 



196 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



that ye stir not up 7 nor awake my love, until she 
please. " 

The marginal reading of this verse may suggest 
to us that now this charge to the daughters of Jeru- 
salem is added to by an appeal to themselves, "Why 
should ye stir up, or why awake my love till she 
please ?" As if they were now themselves awakened 
to some sense of the sweetness of religion, and 
ought, therefore, at once to understand the appeal. 

The charge occurs (as in both the previous in- 
stances in chap. ii. 7, and iii. o) whilst the Bride 
was in the enjoyment of peculiarly hallowed com- 
munion j and it seems to teach us that such seasons 
are not broken in upon — save by our own consent ! 
— " until she please." 

The verse immediately following suggests also 
that the believer cannot be always resting ; he is 
called aside to " rest a while" from time to time, 
during his pilgrim journey; but, after all, his must 
be an onward course. 

Ver. 5. " Who is this that cometh up from the wild- 
erness." 

Coming up — journeying — making progress. 
Such is the characteristic feature of the true be- 
liever. But from whence ? " From the wilderness.^ 
Ah ! it is well to be taught to look back " to the 
rock whence we are hewn, and the hole of the pit 
whence we are digged." The Lord would not have 



CHAPTER VIII. 



197 



us forget it at any stage of our experience. His 
first words and his last to his Bride were alike to 
call to her remembrance what she had been — a 
beggar raised from the dunghill to inherit the throne 
of glory, that the exceeding riches of his grace 
might be magnified in her. Thus, in chap. i. 9, 
he says, " I have compared thee, 0 my love, to a 
company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots," brought 
up out of Egypt ; and now he asks, " "Who is this 
that cometh up from the wilderness ?" He knew her 
when it was her home ! — " I did know thee in the 
wilderness, in the land of great drought ; " " in the 
open field," &c.' (Hos. xiii. 5 \ Ezek. xvi. 5). 
And full well did he keep in remembrance her 
" first love," manifested there ; " I remember thee, 
the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espou- 
sals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness,' ' 
&c. (Jer. ii. 2). And every step of her coming up 
from it he knows : " He knoweth thy walking 
through this great wilderness." " The steps of a 
good man are ordered by the Lord," &c. (Deut. 
ii. 7). And he knows the progress we make. He 
knows when we are drawing near the borders of 
the wilderness, when we are nearly through it ; 
when we are coining up from it ! Precious in his 
sight is the far-advanced believer — whose " wilder- 
ness" journey is almost finished — his toils, his suf- 
ferings, his conflicts, almost over. How he watches 
our coming up from the wilderness ! 

There is something like the language of holy 



198 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



boasting in the expression, " Who is this that 
cometh up from the wilderness?" As if the Lord 
Jesus called attention to his beloved Bride whom he 
had tenderly protected under the shadow of his 
wings all through her perilous journey, and was 
now triumphantly bringing up from the wilderness, 
to convey her to his Father's house ; for to him 
alone she owes her safety. 

" Leaning upon her beloved.'" 

Yes ! every other dependence has been re- 
nounced. She is bereft of every other stay. She 
advances in her onward course — u leaning on her 
beloved I" It is enough. She is abundantly sup- 
ported : " underneath are the everlasting arms." 

It may indeed appear to the worldling a strange 
sight ; but the believer in Jesus can afford to lose 
all, if she may " win Christ." She can wander 
alone in the wilderness of this world, if needs be, 
for " forty years," and she will " lack nothing," for 
in Christ she has all, and abounds! (Deut. ii. 7). 
Like Moses, she endures, " as seeing him who is 
invisible ; " like John, she breathes out every 
thought into the ear of her Beloved, " leaning on 
his bosom." And this is the secret of the sweet 
peace of the children of God : they cling to the all- 
supporting stem of the " true vine. 11 Nothing can 
rend them asunder. The expression "leaning on" 
implies a sense of weakness. It is a word nowhere 
else used in Scripture, signifying a clinging to, or 



CHAPTER VIII. 



199 



strengthening one's self upon another. So that our 
very feebleness is a divinely-appointed means for 
the display of " the power of his might." " My 
strength is made perfect in weakness." " Most 
gladly, therefore (may every believer say), will I 
rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of 
Christ may rest upon me" (2 Cor. xii. 9, 10). Let 
us, therefore, comfort one another with these words 
while passing through the ivildemess. " Strangers 
and pilgrims ! " having no continuing city to dwell 
in, compelled to pitch our tents up and down from 
time to time, while u wandering in the wilderness in 
a solitary way," yet " led forth by the right way," 
that we may come to a city of habitation! (Ps. 
cvii. 4, 7). 

The Lord is oftentimes pleased to make the 
wilderness a specially chosen place of blessing to 
his beloved ones— " I will allure her, and bring her 
into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto 
her" (Hos. ii. 14). For it is when most bereft of 
earthly things that we most enjoy the supporting 
and abiding presence of our "well beloved," and 
find him to be indeed our a all and in all." 

There is also something peculiarly comforting 
in the Lord's owning of his Bride's appropriation of 
him; " leaning on her beloved." It is like Hos. 
hi. 3 — "Thou shalt not be for another man; so 
will I also be for thee." He most jealously demands 
the whole heart, and most graciously owns it when 
it is given. He calls himself " her beloved." 



200 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



"I raised thee up under the apple-tree: there thy 
mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee 
forth that bare thee." 

" I raised thee up." When thou wast dead, I 
quickened thee (Eph. ii. 1-7). " I said unto thee 
when thou wast in thy blood, Live" (Ezek. xvi. 3, 
&c.) " I raised thee " from the bondage of Satan, 
to " the glorious liberty of the children of God ; " 
" I raised thee " " from darkness to light, and from 
the power of Satan unto God." It was I that raised 
thee up. " I raised thee up under the apple-tree." 
We have learnt from chapters ii,, iii. the meaning 
of " the apple-tree " — " As the apple-tree among the 
(wild) trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the 
sons." It is Jesus. For he is " the tree of life " — « 
" I am the resurrection and the life." 

"There thy mother brought thee forth." Oh! 
how wonderfully the believer is brought into fellow- 
ship with Jesus ! Just as the Babe in Bethlehem 
was " conceived of the Holy Ghost," so is the Chris- 
tian spiritually born of the Spirit. We are made 
new creatures in Christ Jesus by the agency of the 
Holy Ghost. We are made the sons of God by 
the Spirit of adoption. We are admitted into God's 
family by the new birth of the Spirit — " There she 
brought thee forth that bare thee." How power- 
fully these words recall the utterance of Jesus, in 
the contemplation of what was to be the blessed 
fruit of his sufferings and death ! " Verily, verily, 
I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the 



CHAPTER VIII. 



201 



ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it 
bring 'eth forth much fruit" (John xii. 24). " He shall 
see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied " 
(Isa. liii. 11). 

We are the children, the spiritual seed, thus 
brought forth — the fruit of the travail of his 
soul. 

Eaised up under the apple-tree. 

"Contrast her state by nature and by grace : 
brought from under the curse under the first apple- 
tree in Eden, and placed under the blessing of the 
second apple-tree in the garden of covenant love." — 
Mes Stevens. 

The words may likewise apply to the restoring 
grace of Christ. Thus, in chapter ii. 3-5, the 
Bride was swooning and fainting through excess 
of spiritual joy ; but her Beloved raised her up, 
and stayed and supported her. So, again, under 
the scorching heat of the noonday sun, he filled her 
with resurrection power, while he was unto her " as 
a shadow from the heat;'' and, when parched with 
thirst, his fruit was sweet and reviving to her taste. 
" The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the 
nations." For it is not a withering gourd ; but a 
tree of life, full of resurrection power ! vivifying and 
quickening. It was this power which wrought in 
the Bride when, in chapter iii. 1, 2, it caused her to 
cry out from her bed, " I will rise now," &c. And, 
again, in chapter v., when, after vain excusings of 
her inability to open to him, she was at length so 



202 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



constrained by his dealings of love, that she "rose up 
to open to her beloved." 

The same power wrought in the prodigal son in 
the far distant country, exciting in his heart the 
blessed determination, " I icill arise and go to 
my father/' &c. "I raised thee up." Oh! how 
earnestly is the Christian, whose soul lies cleav- 
ing unto the dust, heard to exclaim with St 
Paul, " That I may know him and the power 
of his resurrection " — u That ye may know . . . 
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to 
us-ward who believe, according to the working 
of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ 
when he raised him from the dead " — u and hath 
raised us up together" dec. (Eph. i. 19. 20; and 
ii. 6, 7). (i Blessed and holy is he that hath part 
in the first resurrection." 

The Bride. 

Yer. 6. " Set me as a seed upon thine heart, as a sea! 
upon thine arm'' 

The figure of "a seal" suggests many precious 
thoughts. 

Firsts Its primary reference is doubtless to the 
high priesthood of Jesus. In Exodus xxviii. we 
read, that on the breastplate of the high priest were 
engraven the names of the twelve tribes of the chil- 
dren of Israel, that Aaron might bear them u m his 
heart before the Lord continually" (ver. 1-5-30). 



CHAPTER VIII. 



203 



And again, that in the two stones of the ephod 
were to be engraven, " like the engravings of a sig- 
net/' the names of the children of Israel, that Aaron 
might " bear their names before the Lord upon his 
two shoulders for a memorial" (ver. 6-12). And 
hence the prayer of the Bride — " Set me as a seal 
upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm." 

How inexpressibly delightful to the Church of 
Christ is the thought of "a great High Priest that 
is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God," 
bearing now both on his heart and on his arm the 
names of all his spiritual Israel before the Lord ! 
How sweet to be thus sealed upon Jesus ! 

Second, A seal is used for ratifying and con- 
firming (see Ken. ix. 38; Bom. iv. 11). And the 
Bride thus betakes herself to the " strong consola- 
tion" provided in the promise and the oath of her 
Beloved, that the covenant engagement into which 
she has entered shall never be broken, and that she 
shall never depart from him (Jer. xxxii. 40 ; Hos. 
iii. 3). 

Third, It is also a token of peculiar honour and 
affection. (Compare Jer. xxii. 24 with Haggai ii. 
23.) 

Fourth, A seal leaves an impression, and we are 
to be thus " conformed to the image of his Son," and 
moulded like wax or clay according to the device 
of " the potter." 

Lastly, This sealing process is the peculiar 
office of the Holy Spirit — " whereby ye are sealed 



204 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



unto the day of redemption" (Eph. i. 13, 14 ; Eph. 
iv. 30 ; 2 Cor. i. 22). 

The prayer of the Bride may include all these 
several thoughts. " Set me as a seal." 

It is a prayer that breathes intense earnestness 
and fervent love, and has evidently an especial re- 
ference to the sealing or making sure (Matt, 
xxvii. 68) of that covenant engagement into which 
she had entered with her Beloved. " Set me as a seal 
upon thine heart bind me to thee in the closest of 
all bonds, making me to adhere to thee, even as the 
wax to the parchment — " as a seal." 

She would be sealed upon his " heart" where the 
deepest impression might be made upon his tender 
love and intense affection (Eph. iii. 18, 19) \ and 
likewise upon his " arm," that she might insure the 
exercise of all his omnipotence on her behalf (Ps. 
Ixxvii. 15). "Strong is thine arm." 

In both respects he has answered her prayer most 
wonderfully : " I will not forget thee — I have graven 
thee on the palms of my hands" (Isa. xlix. 15, 16). 
Again, " He shall gather the lambs with his arm, 
and carry them in his bosom" — " His arm shall rule 
for him" (Isa. xl. 10, 11). " The foundation of God 
standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth 
them that are his" (2 Tim. ii. 19). 

a For love is strong as death." 

Jesus has testified to this truth in actual expe- 
rience — " Greater love hath no man than this, that 



CHAPTER VIII. 



205 



a man lay dozen his life for his friends." " And I 
lay down my life for the sheep." " Who loved me, 
and gave himself for me." 

And since the Bride's love is but the reflection 
of his, hers also is '-'strong as death." "For thy 
sake we are killed all the day long," &c. (Rom. 
viii. 36; Acts xxi. 13). Therefore it is written of 
the noble army of martyrs, that " they loved not 
their lives unto the death" (Rev. xii. 11). " For 
the love of Christ constraineth us" <kc. (2 Cor. 
v. 14, 15). "Love is strong as death." "Who 
shall separate us from the love of Christ '] shall 
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, 
or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these 
things we are more than conquerors through him 
that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither 
death, nor life, . . .nor any other creature, shall 
be able to separate us from the love of God, 
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. viii. 
35-39). 

" But drops of grief can ne'er repay 
The debt of love I owe ; 
Here, Lord, I give myself away — 
'Tis all that I can do." 

" Love, so amazing, so divine, 

Demands my soul, my life, my all !" — Watts. 

" Jealousy is cruel as the grave. 1 ' 

"The Lord thy God is a jealous God." He 
will bear no rival ; he will have the whole heart. 
And forasmuch as "all his actions towards us 



206 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



imprint their stamp in us" (Manton), the believer 
is likewise, of necessity, filled with a holy jealousy 
towards Christ. He must have Christ all to himself; 
he cannot let other objects rival him in his heart. 
He is often heard to exclaim — 

" Do not I love thee, O my Lord? 
Behold my heart and see ; 
And cast each cursed idol down, 
That dares to rival thee." — Doddridge. 

This "jealousy" is expressive of that intensity of 
appropriation which is the privilege of every indivi- 
dual believer ; for such is our Beloved, that he is 
all to every one. And none loses by his entire 
appropriation by another ! There is no diminution 
by participation. 

Be jealous, then, believer, of the love of Jesus. 
Fear not to be " cruel as the grave" in thy demands 
upon it. 

The grave is never satisfied: it says not, It is 
enough (Prov. xxx. 15, 16). Go and do thou 
likewise. Crave the love of Jesus. 

" Only the Fountain Head above 
Can satisfy the thirst of love." — Newton. 

" Jealousy is cruel as the grave." " As the 
grave will not give up its dead, so neither will 
Jesus give up his own." 

" The coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a 
most vehement flame" (Heb., " The coals thereof 
are the flames of the fire of the Lord") 

"Coals of fire" — elsewhere called "live coals" 



CHAPTER VIII. 



207 



(see Isa. vi. 6). " Then flew one of the seraphims 
unto me, having a live coal in his hand, . . . taken 
from off the altar" kindled by the Lord himself. 
The fire is his, and the coals are his. So is it most 
emphatically with Christian love. 

It is in its essence kindled in heaven — it is 
"the love of the Spirit" (Rom. xv. 30) — Christ's 
own love pervading (through the indwelling of his 
Spirit) all the members incorporate in his mystical 
body. 

" The flames of the fire of the Lord." Alas ! 
wherefore are they so often like to " smoking flax" 
rather than to fiery flames, burning so brightly that 
all might see their light, and feel their heat 1 Why 
do we reflect so little of the flaming love of Jesus ? 
Is it not because we have so little " delight in draw- 
ing near God, and warming our souls at the fire of his 
love ?" — Charnock. 

No other coals than those kindled hy the Lord can 
avail to keep alive this holy love within our hearts. 
" The coals thereof are coals of fire, which are the 
flames of the fire of the Lord" The original Hebrew 
word in this place is compounded of three words — 
"fire, flame, and Jah." And it is remarkable that 
it is the only time the name of God occurs through- 
out the book. 

Patrick thinks there is an allusion to (Lev. vi. 
12, 13) the fire which was ever burning on the 
altar. If it be so, we are at once reminded how en- 
tirely that flame consumed the sacrifice* The burnt- 



208 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



offering was frequently expressed by the Hebrew 
word olah, i. e., " an ascension" from the whole sacri- 
fice being consumed, and going up in a flame to the 
Lord. And how truly Jesus ivas thus consumed by 
this "vehement flame" of love! 0 to understand 
more of its height, and depth, and length, and 
breadth ! " Love is strong as death." It " passeth 
knowledge" (Eph. iii. 17-19). 

Ver. 7 "Many waters cannot quench love, neither 
can the floods drown it" 

If love is a flame of the fire of the Lord, it is a 
fire no waters can quench. Though all his " waves 
and billows" go over our heads — though floods of 
persecution assail us — " though the waters roar and 
be troubled" — yea, though we pass "through the 
waters," yet, sheltered in Christ, the true Ark, we 
shall but rise higher and higher upon the waters ; 
for nothing, nothing " shall separate us from the love 
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." It 
shall rather be as in the days of Elijah, that 
although the water be poured upon the sacrifice 
over and over again, till it fill even the trench 
round about the altar, still "the fire of the Lord" 
shall lick up the water in the trench ! (1 Kings xviii. 
33-38) ; for " many waters cannot quench love." 

If the flames of hell are spoken of as an "un- 
quenchable fire," how much more so are the flames 
of love kindled in heaven I "Charity never faileth" 
(1 Cor. xiii.) 



CHAPTER VIII. 



209 



And if the love of Jesus earned him through 
such deep, deep waters for our sakes, how should the 
remembrance of that love carry us through all the 
smaller streams which lie in our way, for the love we 
have to him ! 

"Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, 
With all thy quickening powers ; 
Come, shed abroad a Saviour's love, 
And that shall kindle ours." 

" If a man would give all the substance of his house 
for love, it would utterly he contemned? 

What a powerful argument this was in the 
mouth of the Bride of Christ ! She would be sealed 
upon his heart, and upon his arm, that nothing 
might separate them. She would be bound to him 
in indissoluble bonds — and the tie that bound them 
must be love. 

For even in earthly connexions, she argues, 
nothing a man could give would be accepted, if he 
withheld his love. " If a man would give all the 
substance of his house for love, it would utterly be 
contemned." Shall they, then, who have yielded 
their affections to the Lord, be satisfied with less % 
God forbid! Even heaven itself, the " Fathers 
house," would be utterly contemned, with all its 
ten thousand times ten thousand enjoyments over 
and above all earthly good, ivere the love of Jesus 
wanting there! 

Oh ! it is the being sealed on the heart of Jesus 
that believers crave after — on his heart of love! 
o 



210 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" Do not I love thee from my soul ? 
Then let me nothing love ! 
Dead be my heart to every joy, 
When Jesus cannot move. 

" Would not my heart shed all its blood 
In honour of thy name ? 
And challenge the cold hand of death 
To damp the immortal flame?" — Doddridge. 

" Then, Lord, thy love to me impart, 
And seal my name upon thy heart ; 
Seal me upon thine arm, and wear 
That pledge of love for ever there." — Watts. 

This fervour of love is no mere passion ; it is no 
mere outbreak of enthusiasm ; it is a deep and lively 
reality. It is a spark from the flame of the strong 
and active love of Jesus. It manifests itself in its 
actings towards others. 

Ver. 8. " We have a little sister, and she hath no 
breasts : what shall we do for our sister in the day 
when she shall be spoken for f " 

There seems to be the same yearning after 
family relationship here as in verse 1 — "0 that 
thou wert as my brother!" " We have a little sister, 
and she hath no breasts." 

The Bride is no longer wholly absorbed with her 
own individual necessities ; her one inquiry is no 
longer, " What must J do to be saved ? " nor her 
one desire, " Lord, that I might receive my sight " 
— " God be merciful to me, a sinner" — "Lord, 
remember me" &c. — - " Sir, give me this living 
water," &c. She is able now to "look also on the 
things of others." For when we have tasted for 



CHAPTER VIII. 



211 



ourselves of that " living water," we shall be ready 
to leave our own water-pot, like the Samaritan 
woman, and go into the city, and invite our friends, 
saying, " Come, see a man," &c. (John iv. 28, 29). 
When our eyes have been opened, we shall begin 
to inquire, with St Paul, " Lord, what wilt thou 
have me to do T 5 For we are not to follow the 
Lord selfishly — we must go home to our friends, 
and tell them what great things he hath done for 
us. We must be willing to " spend, and be 
spent," for the good of others; yea, and even re- 
joice to be "poured forth" for the service of their 
faith ! (Phil. ii. 17, marg. ; Mark v. 19; 2 Cor. xii. 
15). 

It was thus with the Bride. She felt that there 
were yet many "daughters of Jerusalem" who were 
not espoused to Christ. They did not stand to him 
in the same relation that she did. "We have a 
little sister," but she is not yet " married to another, 
even to him w T ho is raised from the dead, that she 
should bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom. vii. 4; 
contrast chapter vii. 7, 8). " What shall we do for 
our sister 1 " is therefore her anxious inquiry. Oh ! 
to be often breathing out this language in the ear 
of Jesus ! " What wilt thou have me to do ?" 
" Cause me to know the way wherein I should 
walk." — "Make thy way plain before my face." 
We cannot do God's work without God's direction 
in doing it. 

Nor is direction sought in vain. " I will shew 



212 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



thee what thou shalt do/' is his gracious assurance 
(Acts ix. 6 ; 1 Sam. xvi. 3 ; Ps. xxxii. 8). 

The expression, " in the day when she shall be 
spoken for," implies that a work was to be done in 
the Lord's time. It also involves the idea of 
working "while it is day" — while we have u op- 
portunity/' &c. (Gal. vi. 10). For if " the day" 
be lost, " the night cometh when no man can 
work " (John ix. 4). May the Lord's servants be 
always " ready to do " whatsoever he appoints 
(2 Sam. xv. 15), "in the day" when he has 
designed to shew favour. 

Ver. 9. " If she be a wall, we will build upon her a 
palace of silver : and if she be a door, we will 
inclose her with boards of cedar." 

These two expressions may denote two different 
states or conditions — " a wall " being a work begun 
and in progress, whilst " a door " implies only a 
readiness for that work. In 1 Cor. xvi. 9, we read 
of " a great door and effectual " being opened ; and 
in Phil. i. 6, that " he who hath begun a good work 
in you will perform it," &c. 

Thus the Bride desired to build wisely, as she 
had opportunity. If " a door " presented itself, 
a way of access, she would be zealous, like St 
Paul, of " entering in " (2 Cor. ii. 12 ; 1 Thess. i. 
9). "If she be a door, we will inclose her with 
boards of cedar " — " I would lead thee and bring 
thee into my mother's house " (ver. 2), inclosing 



CHAPTER VIII. 



213 



thee within the gospel net, and bringing thee into 
Christian fellowship. 

But, " if she be a wall, we will build upon her a 
palace of silver." When the foundation is laid, the 
building may be reared up : " building up your- 
selves on your most holy faith" — "rooted and 
built up in him" (Jude 20; Col. ii. 7). This 
building up is most important work ; " ye are 
built up a spiritual house," " for an habitation of 
God through the Spirit" (1 Pet. ii. 5; Eph. ii. 
19, 22). 

Babes in Christ must be " fed with milk, and 
not with meat," and must be cherished " even as a 
nurse cherish eth her children" (1 Cor. hi. 1, 2 ; 
1 Thess. ii. 7). But where the work has made any 
progress, we are exhorted to give all diligence to 
add grace to grace (2 Pet. i. 4-11). 

This the Bride desired to do. She manifested 
the blessed fruits of the Spirit's teaching ( u who 
would instruct me," ver. 2), for her love abounded 
yet more and more, " in knowledge and in all judg- 
ment" (Phil. i. 9). 

Ver. 10. " I am a ivall, and my breasts like 
towers." 

She now contrasts her state with theirs : " I am 
a wall, and my breasts like towers." Already the 
building has attained a considerable height, it has 
reached unto the " towers." It is near upon com- 
pletion. The foundation, which is Christ, has been 



21-4 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



laid, and the lively stones are being tc daily added to 
the Church. 95 

But although the " wall " has still to be built, as 
in Nehemiah's days, in the midst of enemies, so 
that the builders need to be girt with the sword of 
the Spirit, yet the good work which is begun shall 
be performed unto the day of Christ; and very soon 
" he shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with 
shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it ! " (Zech. 
iv. 7). 

" I am a wall." Thrice blessed acknowledg- 
ment ! There is no hesitating, no doubting about 
it. It is not " if I be a wall/' for the Bride uses 
no " if" in regard to her own condition. But 
rather, in full assurance of faith, she gratefully 
owns, to the glory of the Divine Architect, " I am 
a wall, and my breasts like towers." " Booted and 
built up — in him." 

" Then teas I in his eyes as one that found favour." 

We have a beautiful illustration of these words 
in Ezek. 16. The Lord found his Bride originally 
" cast out in the open field." But since he had 
passed by her, and looked upon her, and had 
entered into covenant with her, she had " increased 
and waxen great, and come to excellent ornaments : 
her breasts were fashioned, and her time was the 
time of love." She had " prospered exceedingly," 
and was become " exceeding beautiful." 

" Then " was she in his eyes " as one that found 



CHAPTER VIII. 



215 



favour." " Hail ! thou that art highly favoured," 
&c. (Luke i. 28). 

It was beautifully figured also iu Esther's his- 
tory. Now it came to pass, on the third day, when 
Esther had put on her royal apparel, and the king 
saw her standing in the court, " that she obtained 
favour in his sight," &c. (Esther v. 1, 2). 

How wonderful that sinners should find " favour " 
in the eyes of the King of kings ! " They got not 
the land in possession by their own sword, neither did 
their own arm save them," is the divine interpreta- 
tion of this holy mystery ; " but thy right hand, 
and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, 
because thou hadst a favour unto them " (Ps. xliv. 3). 
It is all God's free grace and " favour." He builds 
us up, and then takes delight in the building. He 
makes us to prosper, and then " hath pleasure " in 
our prosperity (Gen. xxxix. 3 ; Ps. xxxv. 27). He 
makes us fruitful, and then we find favour in his 
eyes because we are so ! Ci Then was I in his eyes 
as one that found favour." 

Thrice blessed is the soul that has learnt to rest 
satisfied with God's approval ! — " accepted in the 
beloved." It is enough — " It is God that justifieth 
— who is he that condemneth ?" If we have " found 
favour " in his eyes, what more can we need 1 This 
was the plea of Jesus- — " Preserve my soul, for 
I am one whom thou favourest" (Ps. lxxxvi. 2, 
marg.) And what can we desire more for ourselves 



216 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



than to be remembered with the favour which God 
beareth unto his people ? (Ps. cvi. 4, o). 

Oh for a blessed consciousness of having thus 
found favour ! It seems to be the special privilege 
of the far-advanced believer, who can confidently 
affirm, " I am a wall, and my breasts like towers." 
" Then," and perhaps not till then — not until we 
have decided evidences that we are in very deed the 
espoused ones of Jesus, can we assure ourselves that 
we have found favour in his eyes, M Beloved, if our 
heart condemn us not, then have we confidence to- 
ward God " (1 John iii. 20, 21). 

Yer. U. " Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon : 

he let out the vineyard unto keepers" 

The truths connected with this "vineyard" are 
most deeply precious ; but, in sovereign wisdom, 
they are not unfolded till the believer has learnt, by 
dear-bought experience, to look entirely away from 
self, and to rest solely on the Lord Jesus and his 
finished work for acceptance and salvation. Chris- 
tians are not set to work for God in order to merit 
God's favour. God forbid ! But when they have 
found favour in his eyes, and when they have care- 
fully seen to the well-being of their own vineyard 
(see chapter vii. 12) 3 then he sets them to be the 
keepers of his vineyard. This is very powerfully 
taught us in the conclusion of this book. We have 
seen the onward progress of Christian experience 
marked out in its various stages, the gradual de- 



CHAPTER VIII. 



velopment of spring, summer, and autumnal fruits ; 
and now, in the close of that experience, the ripened 
and matured believer is taught to labour in his Lord's 
vineyard ; and is reminded that his labour shall not 
be in vain in the Lord ! 

" Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon." Our 
Solomon is Jesus, the King of kings, the true and 
only Potentate, &c. (1 Tim. vi. 14-16) ; and his 
vineyard is the Church. It is "a vineyard in a very 
fruitful hill" (Is. v. 1, &c.) ; for such is the literal 
meaning of the figurative expression, " a vineyard 
at Baal-hamon." u Baal " signifies one that possesses 
or rules j " hamon " signifies multitude or riches. 
Jesus then is the ruler and owner of a very fruitful 
vineyard ! a Yery fruitful ! " — whether the numbers 
of " trees of righteousness" of his own right hand 
planting be referred to, or " the fruits of righteous- 
ness " which they bring forth abundantly by Jesus 
Christ to the glory and praise of God. The multi- 
tude of fruit trees, and the riches of his flock, have 
already been described. " Thy plants are an orchard 
of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits — with all trees 
of frankincense, and with all the chief spices," &c. 
| (chap. iv. 13, 14). And again, " Thy teeth are like 
a flock of sheep, . . . whereof every one bear twins, 
and none is barren among them " (chap. iv. 2). 
"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much 
fruit" (John xv. 8). 

Such, then, is our Solomon's vineyard at Baal- 
hamon ! How blessed to be planted in it! — fenced 
about, interceded for, pruned, and purged. 



218 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



Bat we are not planted in the Lord's garden to 
be cumberers of the ground. Like Adam and Eve 
in Eden, we are " to till the ground — to dress it 
and to keep it" (Gen. ii. 5, 15). " He let out the 
vineyard unto keepers" In one sense Jesus only is 
" the dresser of the vineyard." He says of it, "I 
the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment : 
lest any hurt it, / will keep it night and day" (Isa. 
xxvii. 1-3). And well is it for us that it is safely 
lodged in his keeping who neither slumbers nor 
sleeps, but keeps it night and day. For had it been 
given out of his hands into ours, we had lost it as 
soon as Adam and Eve lost Paradise ! 

But Jesus and his Bride are one ; and in this 
sense we are constituted " keepers." He commits 
his goods into our hands as servants and stewards, 
giving " to every man his work " (Mark xiii. 3-4), 
and adding the solemn injunction, " occupy till I 
come" (Luke xix. 13). 

Dress the vineyard and keep it, is his charge to 
each individual believer, as well as to the shepherds 
and pastors of his flock. " Feed thy kids beside 
the shepherds' tents " (chap. i. 8), is his universal 
admonition. " Feed my lambs " — " Go ye into all 
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature " 
— " Keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude 21), 

" Every one for the fruit thereof ivas to bring a 
thousand pieces of silver." 

Once the Lord of the vineyard let it out unto 



CHAPTER VIII. 



219 



husbandmen who would not yield him the fruit 
thereof ; and what then did he do 1 He " let out 
his vineyard unto other husbandmen which should 
render him the fruits in their seasons" (Matt. xxi. 33, 
&c.) Jesus is looking for these fruits in each one 
of us. He looks for the tender grape and the green 
figs of spring ; for the spices and pleasant fruits of 
summer ; and for the nuts in autumn (see chaps, ii., 
iv., vi.) Are we then bringing forth these " fruits 
in then- seasons " to render unto Jesus % " What 
shall ice render unto the Lord 1 " What does he 
expect ? 

" Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring 
a thousand pieces of silver." The vineyard is 
planted on a very fruitful hill, and the Lord ex- 
pects it to yield him a rich and very abundant 
produce. To whom he has given five talents, from 
him he expects " other five ; " and to whom he has 
given two, from him he expects " two talents 
more." For "the manifestation of the Spirit is 
given to every man to profit withal" (1 Cor. xii. 7). 
Whatsoever God intrusts us with, be it wealth, 
or talents, or knowledge, or influence, it is not ours 
to use as we please — it must be traded with ; it is 
given us " to profit withal."' 

Not to use it thus is robbery of God ; for we 
then cannot have sufficient fruit to yield him the 
required produce. Oh that we more diligently 
sought to render unto him " the glory due unto his 
name ! " 



220 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



It is altogether a false and deceptive humility to 
say, " But my poor works can bring no glory to 
God," &c. fee. 

Of course our own works, if they are offered like 
Cain's sacrifice of the fruit of the soil, of our own 
hearts, can never yield produce acceptable to Jesus. 
But, if we are " trees of righteousness," planted by 
God in his own vineyard, we must be more or less 
<l filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by 
Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." 
For every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. And 
of these fruits (with which, indeed, it becomes us to 
a covet earnestly" to be well "filled") the whole 
produce must be rendered to the Lord. " Every 
one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand 
pieces of silver." " Render unto God the things 
which are God's." Let us trade with our talents 
diligently — increase them " a hundred-fold," and 
then go and cast the price at Jesus' feet. Keep back 
none of the price of the land. 

Yer. 12. " My vineyard, which is mine, is before 
me:' 

The Bride is not now a keeper of the vineyards 
of others, to the neglect of her own (contrast chap, 
i. 6). She is seen here diligently overlooking the 
vineyard given her to keep. " My vineyard, which 
is mine, is before me," The words indicate a strong 
feeling of personal responsibility — a full conscious- 
ness of her own specific interest in her Lord's vine- 



CHAPTER VIII. 



221 



yard ; nor was she ignorant of his gracious purpose 
of rewarding " those that keep the fruit." 

u Thou, 0 Solomon, must have a thousand, and those 
that keep the fruit thereof two hundred" 

" A thousand pieces of silver" is God's demand, 
as the price of the produce of the vineyard. That, 
therefore, the Bride, as a faithful steward, will ren- 
der unto him. And what Christian would not re- 
joice to cast his crown at the feet of Jesus, and to 
yield him all the glory of all the precious fruits of 
the Spirit wrought out in his experience I " What- 
soever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not 
unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive 
the reward of the inheritance ; for ye serve the Lord 
Christ" (Col. iii. 23, 24). 

" Eeceive the reward I " Yes ! " those that keep 
the fruit " must have " two hundred." For " if any 
man's work abide which he hath built thereupon " 
(z. e. upon the foundation, Christ Jesus), " he shall 
receive a reward" (1 Cor. iii. 14). This is a very 
precious truth, and it is not dangerous, as some 
imagine, if it be truly understood. There is no 
danger of ascribing ought of this to human merit, 
if it be once for all distinctly seen and borne in 
mind, that " the fruit " is itself " the fruit of the 
Spirit " (Gal. v. 22), springing solely out of the 
vital union of the fruit-bearing branches to the vine 
(John xv.) God gives us " the seed " (2 Cor. ix. 10). 
He gives us "the increase" (1 Cor. iii. 6). " The 



222 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



fruits of righteousness are by Jesus Christ" (Phil, 
i. 11); and when he rewards, he rewards his own 
work. " Where is boasting then?" Oh ! is it not 
for ever excluded ? Do we not see that God gets 
himself glory by what he does in us ? And is it the 
less his doing because he works in us f God forbid ! 
The reward is not of debt, but of grace. For we are 
not only servants, but also sons : " and if sons, then 
heirs." And yet we " shall receive the reward of 
the inheritance." " Those that keep the fruit " 
shall have " two hundred " — " for to him that hath 
shall more be given, and he shall have abundance." 

When God has taught us the danger of looking 
to anything in ourselves as deserving of recompence, 
then he shews us that even a cup of cold water given 
for his sake shall in no wise lose its reward (Matt, 
x. 42) ; that, " whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
he also reap " (Gal. vi. 7) ; and that, being rich in 
good works, we are laying up for ourselves a good 
foundation against the time to come (1 Tim. vi. 18, 
19). 

The sum specified is also replete with interest. 
" Two hundred " — that is precisely the fifth part of 
" a thousand ; " in other words, it is two-tenths, or a 
double tithe. The sum God always demanded of 
Israel was " a tithe " of all that they had ; but when 
he gives he does not give grudgingly — his reward is 
a double tithe! 

" Thou, 0 Solomon, must have a thousand ; and 
those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred." 



CHAPTER VIII. 



223 



We are reminded here of another scene in Old 
Testament history. In Gen. xliii. 34, we read that 
" Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of 
theirs." And the Lord Jesus here gets " five times 
as much " as any of his brethren. We share his 
joy, though in all things he has " the pre-eminence." 
We yield him all — and he showers back upon us the 
rich reward of a double tithe ! " For God is not 
unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, 
which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye 
have ministered to the saints, and do minister " 
(Heb. vi. 10). 

Ver. 13. " Thou that dioellest in the gardens, the 
companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to 
hear it." 

" The Lord's throne is in heaven," yet he dwelleth 
in " the garden " of his Church, among the trees 
which his own hand hath planted. Time was when 
the Bride imagined that her Beloved had forsaken 
his garden and had " turned aside" but now she can 
say, " Thou that dwellest in the gardens ! " This 
acknowledgment bespeaks in her a calm and settled 
assurance of mind, which she did not always possess. 
It proves her to have increased in the knowledge of 
her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Our eyes may at times be " holden," as Mary's 
were at the sepulchre, when " she knew not that it 
was Jesus," supposing him to have been the gar- 
dener ; but it is the privilege of the believer, in the 



224 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



exercise of faith, to know that Jesus is still there, 
whether we see hini or not. And we need but to 
hear his well-known " voice " saying, " Mary," to re- 
gain all our confidence, and have every suspicions 
fear put to flight. 

The Bride therefore prays, " Thou that dwellest 
in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: 
cause me to hear it." 

" The word companions being in the masculine 
gender in the original, proves them to be the com- 
panions of the Bridegroom. His companions are 
6 the angels, that excel in strength, and do his com- 
mandments,' haying also this peculiar characteristic, 
6 hearkening unto the voice of his word'' (Ps. ciii. 20)." 
• — Durham. 

They always hear the voice of Jesus, and are ever 
ready to obey the first whisper of his word. Unlike 
the Bride, they never slumber ; they never need to be 
aroused from off their beds ; they never compel their 
Lord to stand at the door and knock. " saying. Open 
to me " (chaps, iii. and v.) j they need no urging on 
to holy service \ it is their delight to et do his com- 
mandments." They require no exhortation to listen 
when he speaks, for it is their incessant occupation 
to be " hearkening to the voice of his word ! " And 
the Bride would fain " hear it," even as they. 
" Cause me to hear it " — give me to hear the " still 
small voice " speaking in thy gospel, in thy Word, in 
thy providences, in thy sanctuary and ordinances, 
and in my daily walk. " Speak comfortably " unto 



CHAPTER VIII. 



225 



me (Isa. xl. 2 : Hos. ii. 14). Cause me to hear thy 
voice — even thine, and not " the voice of a stranger ; " 
the shepherd's voice (John x. 3—5. 27) — the master's 
voice (1 Sam. iii. 9 y — the counsellor's voice (Isa. xxx. 
21) — the reprovers voice (Hab. ii. 1) — the Father s 
voice (Heb. xii. 5] — and. above all. " the voice of my 
beloved."* Cause me to hear it—" not for a time, but 
for ever/' even as do the angels. May converse 
with Jesus be my happy employment, K hearkening 
to the voice of his word." " Cause me," thy Bride, 
" to hear it." This emphatic " me " again reminds 
us of the oneness of the whole body of believers ; 
" My dove, my undefiled is one." All the plants in 
Christ's garden hear the voice of Jesus. Oh for 
more of the constant ivhisperirigs of the Spirit of Jesus 
in our hearts, quickening the drowsy, strengthening 
the feeble, comforting the disconsolate, Why do we 
not more earnestly reiterate the cry, " Thou that 
dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to 
thy voice : cause me to hear it " I 
" The sheep hear his voice." 
" Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth" 
But the Bride of Jesus cannot stop here : sweet 
indeed it is, while she is absent from her Beloved, 
to listen to the breathings of his Spirit " in the 
gardens," and to have Christ dwelling in her heart 
by faith. But she urges yet one plea more. 



Ver. 14. " Male haste, my beloved, and be thou like 
to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains 
of spices:' p 



226 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



" Come, Lord Jesus." Tis true we have " the 
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts ; " but we want, 
oh, we earnestly long for, " the appearing " of our Be- 
loved upon the mountains of spices. " Make haste, 
my beloved, be thou like to a roe or to a young 
hart." Come swiftly, oh, " make haste ! " 

Such are the fervent breathings of the soul after 
Jesus ! — such the intense affection of his Bride ! 
How her language betrays the warmth of love ! 
What holy vehemence she displays ! One might 
wonder that sinners should dare to use such language 
towards their God > but " perfect love casteth out 
fear." And the Bride is now so filled with "the 
full assurance of faith," " confidence toward God," and 
a love which no waters can quench, that she bursts 
forth into this glowing language, "Make haste, my 
beloved ! " even as one of old did dare to reiterate 
the same cry in one short Psalm four times over ! — 
" Make haste unto me, 0 God v — " 0 Lord, make no 
tarrying " — " Make haste, 0 God, to deliver me " — 
" Make haste to help me, 0 Lord ! " (Ps. lxx.) 

Nor do the children of God desire less to see the 
Beloved of their souls, " as they see the clay approach- 
ing." Hear the language of one : " When shall I be 
satisfied with thy face? When shall I be drunk 
with thy pleasures % Come, Lord Jesus, and tarry 
not. The Spirit says, Come — the Bride says, Come : 
even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and tarry not." 
— J. Welsh. 

And another writes : " Oh, how long is it to the 



CHAPTER VIII. 



dawning of the marriage-day ? Oh, sweet Jesus, take 
wide steps ! Oh, my Lord, come over the mountains at 
one stride ! Oh, my blessed, flee as a roe or young 
hart upon the mountains of separation ! " " Oh, time, 
run, run, and hasten the marriage-day, for love is 
tormented with delays ! " And again, " I laugh, I 
smile, I leap for joy, to see Christ coming to save 
you so quickly. Oh, such wide steps as Christ taketh ! 
Three or four hills are but a step to him. He 
skippeth over mountains." — S. Rutherford. 

Yea, and many can add, " My soul longeth, yea, 
even fainteth" for the sight of Jesus ! 

"The minutes seem to move too slow : 
May Jesus quickly come !" — Watts. 

U Be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon 
the mountains of spices." It is not here, as in 
earlier experience, " the mountains of B ether" or divi- 
sion (chap. ii. 17, margin) — it is not that clouds 
have come between us and Jesus, and we want to 
see the light of his countenance again by faith — no : 
the soul is here in the full possession of that bright 
and happy experience ; but far above and beyond all 
that, yea, even while " our conversation is in hea- 
ven," we long for more still — " we look for the Savi- 
our, the Lord Jesus Christ," &c. (Phil. iii. 20, 21). 
We look for his coming again to receive us unto 
himself ; and this is something beyond our going 
to be with him. "Beloved, now are we the sons 
of God," says the apostle, but "it doth not yet 
appear what we shall be : but we know that, tvhen he 



228 



THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 



shall appear, we shall be like hiin; for we shall see 
hini as he is" (1 John iii. 2). That is the consum- 
mation we are looking for. 

' ' One vieio of Jesus as he is 
Will strike all sin for ever dead." — Cowpep*. 

" We would see Jesus/' is the ceaseless cry of his 
Bride. We are already upon "the mountains of 
spices'' — we are already enjoying much of the 
heights and depths of the love of Jesus — already we 
are risen in him far above all the fading vanities of 
earth, which gradually appear smaller and fainter, 
and sink into real insignificance as ive ascend the 
mountain heights, and leave them far behind in the 
plains below — already we seem to breathe some- 
thing of the air of heaven, with its rich perfumes 
and spices — we are u sick of love " — we long to fly 
away, to see Jesus coming in the clouds, and to be 
" caught up to meet him in the air ! " We long to 
be in glory, 

"Where saints in full fruition prove 
His rich variety of love ! " — Watts. 

Oh ! Christians, awake ! " Arise ye, and depart, 
for this is not your rest." Get ye up into the 
"mountains of spices;" soar far above the grovel- 
ling things of sense ; "look up, and lift up your 
heads." Get ye to the mountain-top, above all the 
mists of earth, that ye may clearly discern the first 
rays of light which shall mark the rising beams 
of the Sun of Righteousness. Stand upon your 



CHAPTER VIII. 



229 



watch-tower — "Be ye ready" — u Watching unto 
prayer" — "Without spot" — "Unblameable." "'Be 
found of him in peace" — " Let your loins be girded 
about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves 
like unto men that wait for their lord" — u Looking 
'for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God" 
— " Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious 
appearing of the Great God, and our Saviour Jesus 
Christ" — and abiding in him, that when he shall 
appear ye may have confidence, and not be ashamed 
before him at his coming. 

Yes ! it is for that soul only which counts all 
things else but loss for Christ to be able in sincerity 
to echo the cry of the Bride. " Make haste, my 
beloved ! " — " Why is his chariot so long in coming % 
and why tarry the wheels of his chariot % " Oh, listen 
to the gracious interpretation he has given of his 
delay — " The Lord is not slack concerning his pro- 
mise, . . . but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing 
that any should perish, but that all should come to 
repentance" (2 Pet. iii. 9). 

' ' Sinners still thy garments touching, 
Stay tine in thy coming here." 

Enter, then, into fellowship of spirit with Jesus : 
and, by prayer and supplication, by life and conver- 
sation, seek to bring in those that are " without," 
and beseech him " shortly to accomplish the number 
of his elect." So shall he hasten his kingdom, and 
" so shall we ever be with the Lord." " Like a roe 
or a young hart," Jesus is drawing nigh. Hear his 



2m 



THE SOXG OF SOLOMON. 



own voice, speaking to thee " in the gardens," and 
saying, " Surely I come quickly." 

And may the same Spirit which breathes through 
him in those precious words (which make known the 
mind of Christ towards us) breathe through us also, 
as the vitally-united members of his body, causing 
us to cry out in oneness of spirit with him — " Amen ! 
Even so. come Lord Jesus ! " 



THE END. 



r1 > 



BALLANTINE, PRINTER, EDINBURGH. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




0 014 396 268 4 



